









<T 



fl 



tfo 



4 O 
















o 



o V 



Sv 



& 



\ 



^ 






< 



O . A 



^0 



V 



G 



° " a » ^b 



o 



^ 
J 



* 



>* „0 



.0" 



*• 



* T^- 



o 



^ 



4- 






r<> 












G 



o 









c 







V 



G 1 



v* 









v 



o 

o 

c 



:"> 



^r 9** 







f v 









V 



> 




















.c^t 



4 o 




bv l 









P*^ -SS^r 



4 o 



>°""t, 



1 "■ 

• 







-^* 

4 o 



«. 




- 









o > 



j. '-* 

x. 






» 
^ 



it 



«5 .* 

V * * * o * ^ O 

V 

^ A* •![< 








A 


















SgTO FiqHT IT OUT QNTHIS LINE JF IT TAKES ALL SUMMER:. 




S «Wl%L 



^lf 






S 







'9*€v*t/ 



X7 



LIFE y/y 



OF 



Ulysses S. Grant-. 



HIS BOYHOOD, CAMPAIGNS, AND SERVICES, 
MILITARY AND CIVIL. 



BY 



-7/ 



WILLIAM A. CRAFTS, 

AUTHOR OF " A HISTORY OF THE SOUTHERN REBELLION." 



Wi\ a cfme portrait ow %ktl 



BOSTON: 
SAMUEL WALKER AND COMPANY. 

1868. 






a 



Entered, according- to Act of Congress, in the year 1SG8, by 
WILLIAM A. CRAFTS, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



J , 



3 



Stereotyped at the Boston Stereotype Foundry, 
No. 19 Spring Lane. 



PREFACE. 



The events related in the following Life of 
General Grant have been derived from authentic 
sources ; and it has been the writer's aim to give a 
plain and truthful narrative, — like the subject him- 
self, — without resorting to invention, high coloring, 
or rhetorical exaggeration, to add to the interest 
which attaches to one who occupies so eminent a 
position. It has also been the writer's purpose, 
avoiding minute details, controversy, and lengthy 
extracts from official reports, to offer a sufficiently 
brief and a popular Life of Grant, to meet the 
wants of numerous readers throughout the country 
who do not desire the larger and more costly 
works. 

To the American people, who during the war 
were loyal to the Union, and since the war have 

(v) 



vi Preface. 

been loyal to Liberty, Equality, and Justice, this 
little volume is committed, in the hope that under 
the administration of him whose career thus far is 
here sketched, they may see their country restored 
to peace and prosperity, with an enduring Union 
and universal liberty. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAIPTER I. 

Birth. — Characteristics of h 
ed a Cadet at West Point. — His Name. — Career at West Point. — Graduates. . 1 



Ancestry. — Parents and Birth. — Characteristics of liis Boyhood. — Appoint- 



ee H ^ IP T E IR, II. 

In the Army. — Frontier Service. — The Mexican War.— His first Battle. — 
Conspicuous Gallantry at Chepultepec — His Reputation earned by Merit and 
Service. — Service in Oregon. — Resigns, — A Farmer in Missouri. — Enters the 
Leather Business. — A higher Destiny reserved for him 13 

CHAPTER III. 

The Rebellion. — Grant's Patriotism. — Tenders his Services to the Governor 
of Illinois. — Appointed Colonel. — Brigadier General. — Battle of Belmont. — 
The Purpose accomplished. — Generosity to Subordinates.— Fort Henry. — Fort 
Donelson. — No Terms but Unconditional Surrender. — Effect of the Victory. . 20 

CH^FTEIR IV. 

Appointed Major General of Volunteers. — Misconception of Grant's Abili- 
ties.— Appreciative Friends. — Undeserved Censure by Halleck. — Grant's noble 
Reply. — Pittsburg Landing. — Shiloh. — His Ideas of Retreat. — Leads the 
Charge of Ohio Troops. — Victory. — Halleck restive. — Grant and Sherman. . 38 

CH^IPTER V. 

Vicksburg. — Grant's Purposes. — Grant and the Secession Women. — The 
Difficulties. — Grant's Persistency and Resources. — Plots to remove him. — 
President Lincoln's Reply. — Brilliant Operations. — Jackson, Champion Hill, 
and the Big Black. — Vicksburg reduced. — Grant's Interview with Pembcrton. 
— "Unconditional Surrender." — Public Joy. — President Lincoln's Letter.— 
Grant's modest Dignity, and sullen Discourtesy of Rebels. — Grant's Confi- 
dence of Success. — Unwearying Labors and Efforts. — Care for his Troops. . . 51 

CHAPTER VI. 

Appointed Major General in the regular Army. — His comprehensive Ideas 
of the Rebellion. — A Believer in Emancipation. — Recognized as a great Lead- 
er, and "the Coming Man." — Visits New Orleans.— Accident and Injury.— 
Called to Cairo. — New and important Command. — Affairs at Chattanooga. — 
Grant's prompt and energetic Preparations. — Journey to Chattanooga. — 
Extent of his Command. — Energy and Administrative Ability. — Battle of 
Chattanooga.— The Crisis and the Charge. — Grant's Confidence. — Complete 
Defeat of the Enemy. — " One of the most remarkable Battles in History." . . 72 

(vii) 



viii Contents. 



CHAPTER "VII. 

Grant's Activity, Policy, and Plans.— Appointed Lieutenant Genee/l.— 
All his Promotions made without his Knowledge. — Cordial Relations with 
Sherman and McPherson. — Modest Appearance at Washington. — Presenta- 
tion of his Commission.— He disapproves of Grand Reviews and Military 
Balls.— His Opinion of the Army of the Potomac— Quiet and unost< ntatious 
Method of reforming Abuses. — Headquarters in nn Field. — Confidence of 
the loyal People. — Relations between President Lincoln and Grant SO 

CHA F r r EH YIII. 

Campaign against Richmond. — Grant with the Army of the Potomac— His 
Tenacity.— No such Thing as Defeat.— Flank Movement.— At Spottsylvania. 

— The famous Despatch, " I propose to li^lit it out on this line."— Hard Fighl 
ingand Strategy equally valued. — Grant's skilful Manoeuvres.— His Hold on 
Lee. — General Butler's Movement. — Before Petersburg. — The Rebels kept 
busy. — Laying Plans and waiting the Developments of other Campaigns. — A 
new I llamor. — The Final c vmi\u<;n\ — His Strategy, Manoeuvres, - ncity, 
and Persistency.— Flight of Jeff Davis, and Retreat <>r Lee's Army.— Lee in 
a strait. — The interview at Appomattox. — The Surrender and Downfall of 
the Rebel Confederacy. — Grant's Honors well won 102 

CHAPTER IX. 

Sherman's Indiscretion.— Grant Bent to assume direction of Sherman's 
Movements. — Mis influence with Sherman, and his Friendship for him.— The 
most successful General of the Age— Bis military Genius recognized at Home 
and Abroad. — Appointed Gi mi: \i. of the Army.— Manifestation of popular 
Admiration. — No Napoleonic Airs. — Farewell Orders to the Armies.— Mis 
Fidelity to his Soldiers. — His Men protected from Imposition 123 

C H J± IP T E R X. 

After tlm War. — Generous to repentant Rebels. — Andri w Johnson's Usur- 
pations. — Grant's Measures to control the rebellious Spirit. — The New Or- 
leans Riot.— Grant and Sheridan. — President Johnson's Tour. — Confidence 
of CongresB.— Execution of the Reconstruction Acts. — The General's Duties 
faithfully performed. — Intrusted with extraordinary Power. — Removal of 
Stanton. — Grant's Protest. — Secretary of War ad interim. — Removal of 
Sheridan.— Another Protest. — Grant the Defender of Congressional Policy. 

— Johnson's " little Game." — He misrepresents Grant. — Grant's Letter to 
the President. — The People's Judgment. — Consequences to Johnson. — Con- 
trast between Grant and Johnson 131 

CHAPTER XI. 

Grant's Character. — His intellectual Ability proved.— Insight into the 
Character of others.— Tenacity of Purpose. — Obedience to Law.— Respect for 
the Will of the People. — Generosity to his Subordinates.— Reticence.— Judi- 
cious silence at Washington. — Republican Simplicity. — Smoking and Driving 
Horses.— An inveterate Smoker. — Horses and Fast Driving. — An Invention 
of Enemies.- His features and Appearance. — Conclusion 185 



LIFE 



OF 



GENERAL U. S. GRANT. 



CHAPTER I. 



Ancestry. — Removal of his Grandfather to Ohio. — Parents and 
Birth. — At School and at Home. — Characteristics of his Boy- 
hood. — Love of Horses. — Skill in managing them. — Too much 
for vicious Ponies. — Persistency. — The Load of Logs. — Prefers 
being a Soldier to being a Tanner. — Appointed a Cadet at West 
Point. — His Name. — U. S., "Uncle Sam," and " Unconditional 
Surrender." — Career at West Point. — Solid Acquirements and 
medium Rank. — Brilliant Scholars not the ablest Generals. — 
Too plucky to be imposed upon. — Respects himself, and compels 
the Respect of others. — Patriotism. — Graduates at West Point. 

THE ancestors of General Ulysses S. Grant came 
from Scotland, and probably belonged to the 
Scottish clan named Grant, whose ancient motto was, 
r Stand fast, stand firm, stand sure." The clan has 
never afforded a better illustration of that motto than 
the distinguished subject of this sketch. They first set- 
tled in Connecticut, from which state General Grant's 
grandfather, who was a soldier through the whole war 
of the revolution, removed to Westmoreland County, in 
Pennsylvania, and was a thrifty farmer there. About 
i (*> 



2 Life of General Grant. 

the year 1799* however, he emigrated with his family 
to what was then the North-western Territory, and 
became one of the pioneer settlers of Ohio, to the rich 
but wild lands of which the tide of emigration from the 
older states was then beginning to set. At the time of 
this removal Jesse R. Grant, the general's father, was 
a boy, who grew to manhood under the genial in- 
fluences of that magnificent country, and the inuring 
difficulties of pioneer life. He added to the occupation 
of a farmer that of a tanner, and settling at Point Pleas- 
ant, in the County of Clermont, married Hannah 
Simpson, the daughter of another pioneer settler, also 
from Pennsylvania. He had learned his trade of tan- 
ner in Kentucky, but his aversion to slavery led him to 
settle in Ohio. 

Hiram Ulysses Grant, now known to the world as 
General Ulysses S. Grant, was the eldest of six children, 
and was born on the 27th of April, 1822. His parents 
were quiet and unpretending, but persevering and 
thrifty, possessed of good sense, and governed by good 
principles. Grant felt their influence for good through 
all his early life ; and his successful career is due, in 
no small degree, not only to his inherited temperament, 
but to his early training, and the influences of his home 
in the formation of his character. It was a humble 
home in which labor was necessary, but in which, 
also, the dignity of labor was justly appreciated and 
adorned with many virtues. In it Grant acquired 
habits of industry and fidelity to all his duties, of self- 
reliance, perseverance, and straightforward honesty. 
The influence of his mother, who was a woman of 
genuine strength of character, was very great, and was 



School Days. 3 

always well directed in moulding the elements of his 
character for future usefulness. 

The early settlers of Ohio, especially those from New 
England and New York, carried with them a just ap- 
preciation of the advantages of education, and made 
provision for common schools. At one of these young 
Grant received such education as was then afforded. 
He was not a brilliant scholar, but he was faithful and 
persevering, and by dint of application and encourage- 
ment at home he mastered all the lessons required of 
him more successfully, and to better purpose, than 
boys of quicker and more showy abilities. He exhibited 
at school, and in all his youthful life, those qualities of 
faithfulness* patience, and perseverance, and a per- 
sistency in doing what was to be done, which have 
characterized him in after life, and have given him 
that success which has made him famous. In lessons 
he accomplished with credit all that was required of 
him, especially in mathematics, and at least acquired 
so much as enabled him, when appointed a cadet at 
West Point, to pass an examination as successfully as 
many who had enjoyed superior advantages, or were 
endowed with more brilliant mental qualities. 

Nor was he idle at home. Like most boys in a 
similar condition of life, he had many duties to perform 
about his father's house and tannery ; and to these 
duties, even if they were not always agreeable, he was 
always faithful. He was not afraid to work, or to lend 
a helping hand when anything was necessary to be 
done, and was especially apt at driving team or taking 
charge of horses. His work done, he applied himself 
to his lessons, receiving generous encouragement from 



4 Life of General Grant. 

his parents, and such assistance as they could render. 
He learned much by experience and observation, and 
acquired the habit of making practical application of 
what he learned by study. Thus his education at 
school and at home laid the foundation for the ac- 
complishment of great deeds in his manhood, when his 
country imposed upon him the necessity. 

When men have become famous, it is quite usual to 
find recorded numerous anecdotes of their sayings and 
doings in boyhood, which are characteristic of the 
qualities they exhibited in maturer years. If these are 
not readily found in family traditions or neighborly 
gossip, they are sometimes invented, or enlarged from 
some trivial occurrence which the subsequent fame of 
the subject alone would cause to be remembered. It is 
not proposed to repeat or to create any such myths 
concerning the boyhood of Grant. Doubtless many 
things occurred to him, and he did many things, 
which might, if duly recorded, add interest to his 
biography. But such things occur to all boys, and 
most of them do something characteristic, only there 
are but few whose after career renders it worth while 
to remember or enlarge upon such things to point a 
moral or adorn a biography. 

But Grant's boyhood was not very remakable, and 
gave no special promise of future greatness, though a 
phrenologist once said he zvould be President of the 
United States. He was a downright, earnest, honest 
boy, quiet and unassuming, with indications of reserved 
power to meet emergencies. He was no boaster, but 
he exhibited self-reliance, persistency, and courage 
which could not but win the respect of his associates. 






Love of Horses. 5 

He was generous and good-natured, but his firmness 
did not allow him to be imposed upon. He was not 
disposed to quarrel or to fight on his own account, but 
it is related of him that he once fought and punished a 
Canadian boy who insulted the memory of Washington. 
He was not without ambition, but it was by no means 
the only motive of his actions, or led him to do more 
than faithfully and persistently attend to the duty in 
hand. He was patriotic, and had a laudable desire to 
serve his country as a soldier rather than as a politician. 
Though exhibiting no special aptitude for military life, 
except firmness and fidelity to duty, his modesty and 
reticence saw no attractions in the political field. 

One of the traits of his character earliest to be devel- 
oped was his love for horses, and his faculty of man- 
aging them. From his infancy he loved a horse, and 
learned to ride one long before he learned to read. 
When only seven and a half years old, during his 
father's absence, he harnessed to a sled a three-year- 
old colt, which had never been broken except to the 
saddle, and drove the animal all day, carrying loads 
of brushwood. He was afraid of no horse, and not 
only became an expert driver, but an excellent tamer 
and trainer of horses even before he was twelve years 
old. He taught them to pace with remarkable facility, 
and his neighbors, near and far, were very desirous of 
having his service in this line, though he was not in- 
clined to become a mere horse-trainer. He rode with 
more than the skill of a circus-rider, for his rides were 
in the rough and open fields without the advantages of 
the " ring ; ' but his feats were for his own amusement 
and his own satisfaction, and not for the eye of any one 



6 Life of General Grant. 

else. He once or twice balked a tricky showman by 
safely riding a mischievous pony which was trained to 
throw all venturesome boys who mounted it, but was 
completely mastered by young Grant. 

He not only loved a horse and knew how to tame, 
ride, and train him, but he early learned to know the 
points of a good horse, so that he could, even at twelve 
years old, judge of the quality and value of one. This 
love for and power over a horse, manifested, as in 
young Grant's case, in useful and practical ways, show 
both a genial side to his nature and a power to dare 
and to command. 

His love of a good horse now is well known, and it 
is one of the homebred affections of his boyhood, which, 
with homebred habits and virtues, have adhered to him 
through all his life. He can " talk horse " with any- 
body, and has often evaded the questions of too in- 
quisitive visitors, or concealed his plans and purposes, 
by a ready resort to that fruitful topic of conversation. 

Another of his traits, which was early developed, was 
his perseverance, which was shown not only in his 
mastery of horses while yet a mere child, but was 
abundantly illustrated by labors which would have dis- 
couraged almost any boy of his age. When but twelve 
years old, and small for his age, he gave a remarkable 
example of practical application of his observation and 
of patient and persistent labor. He had gone to the 
woods expecting to find the men cutting timber < and 
ready to load ; but they were not there, and the young 
teamster had no idea of returning with an empty wagon 
if he could help it, though it required several men to 
lift the huge logs he was to carry. He looked around, 



The Load of Logs. 7 

and seeing a felled tree which lay with the trunk 
elevated at one end at a moderate angle with the 
ground, he at once thought of an expedient, and with 
self-reliance and perseverance set himself to work to 
put it in practice. With one of his horses he drew up 
the slope of the felled tree one end of a log he proposed 
to carry, and that being properly placed high enough 
for him to back the wagon under it, he in the same 
way drew, one at a time, two or three others, which 
made a load. That done, and the wagon being placed 
under the elevated ends, with his horse and chains he 
drew each log into it, and, securing his load, went 
quietly home, doubtless well pleased with his w T ork, 
though making not the slightest boast. 

His father could hardly believe the boy's assertion 
that he and the horse loaded the wagon ; but he knew 
that Ulysses was never guilty of falsehood, and he soon 
had the work explained so that he was satisfied of its. 
truth, though he still could not but wonder at his son's 
achievement. Such practical knowledge and persistent 
labor he exhibited all through his boyhood, and they 
furnish the key to some of the great successes of his 
after career. 

That Grant was a boy of capacity and character, is 
proved by the fact that, without any special' political or 
family influence, he received the appointment of cadet 
in the National Military Academy at West Point. He 
preferred being a soldier to being a tanner, and the 
country now knows that he chose wisely. He was 
nominated for admission to the Academy in 1839, by 
Hon. T. L. Hamer, member of Congress from the 
district in which he resided. By some mistake Mr. 



8 Life of General Grant. 

Hamer gave his name as Ulysses S. Grant, probably 
confounding his name with that of a brother who bore 
the name of Simpson, his mother's maiden name. 
Grant applied to the authorities at West Point, and 
subsequently to the secretary of war, to have the error 
corrected, but those parties apparently did not think the 
matter of sufficient importance to demand their atten- 
tion ; or possibly they thought that the initials U. S. 
were very appropriate for a cadet educated at the ex- 
pense of the United States, and destined to be an officer 
in the army of the United States. At any rate, the 
request was not complied with, and it was fated that 
Hiram Ulysses Grant was henceforth to be known as 
Ulysses S. Grant. 

These initials were highly popular with the cadets, 
who soon gave Grant the nickname of " Uncle Sam," 
which he always retained in the army among the 
associates of his youth. They have proved popular 
with the people, too, who have delighted to associ- 
ate with his the abbreviation of the national name, 
which he did so much to preserve. His first great 
victory, when he dictated terms to the rebels, gave 
other popular names to his initials, and he was enthu- 
siastically hailed as f Unconditional Surrender " 
Grant. The name which a blunder assigned to him 
has thus become so identified with the history of the 
country, and with the love and admiration of the peo- 
ple, that neither he nor they could change it, or would 
desire to if they could. 

At West Point, as at school, young Grant was not a 
brilliant scholar ; but he was diligent in his studies, and 
by his persistency overcame all difficulties, and thor- 



At West Point. o 

oughly mastered what it was necessary to learn. He 
was faithful to all his duties, and to the details of mili- 
tary life, though by no means placing too high an esti- 
mate upon the strict observance of such matters. His 
ambition was to perform his duties, and to acquire the 
knowledge for which he was sent to the Academy, and 
not to make a show either as a brilliant scholar or a 
punctilious martinet. 

His characteristic persistency was illustrated at West 
Point not only by his application to studies, but by his 
playing the game of chess, of which he was fond. 
When he found a player who was at first more than a 
match for him, he persisted in playing till he "tired 
out" his antagonist, and at last beat him. 

During the war of the rebellion West Point has 
abundantly proved that the most brilliant scholars do 
not make the ablest generals, and that great attain- 
ments in science, though they may produce skilful 
engineers, do not always lead to successful operations 
in the field, either in the way of strategy or the handling 
of troops. At the same time it has proved that the 
knowledge and training acquired there are not to be 
depreciated, but afford the surest basis for military 
success, and that those who attain only to a medium 
rank as cadets, if they profit by what they learn, may 
in war achieve great things for the country, and earn a 
wider and more enduring fame than that of brilliant 
scholars or accomplished engineers. Before the war, 
and for a long time after it commenced, old army 
officers and boards of examiners could not comprehend 
this; and it was vainly imagined that high scholars 
must make brilliant generals, and that able engineers 



io Life of General Grant. 

would crush the rebellion. But stubborn facts and hard 
experience have shown the folly of such conclusions ; 
and among those stubborn facts are the failure of 
George B. McClellan, the first scholar, and the signal 
success of Ulysses S. Grant, who ranked even below 
the middle of his class. 

Grant's genial though retiring disposition, and quiet 
and unassuming manners, gradually made him many 
friends among the cadets ; and when he became known, 
"Uncle Sam" was one of the most esteemed of his 
class, though not so popular, perhaps, as more talkative, 
rolicking, and demonstrative fellows. At first there 
were some who were disposed to make fun of the 
western country boy ; and there were others, scions of 
southern aristocracy, who looked down upon him and 
his comparatively humble origin with contempt. He 
was one of the "mudsills" whom they despised. He 
proved, however, by his conduct, that he was worthy 
of respect even from these }*oung aristocrats, and he 
taught those who made fun at his expense to cease 
their jokes. Though never disposed to quarrel, it is 
said that he found it necessary to maintain his own self- 
respect and dignity by punishing one or two who car- 
ried their jests too far. What was to be done in this 
line was, of course, done promptly and thoroughly, 
according to his manner of doing all things. Such 
rebukes were effectual ; they established his pluck, 
and made him more generally respected and esteemed. 
His comrades found that he was not ashamed of his 
origin or any want of superficial polish ; that he had no 
false pride which, their jests could wound, but that he 
had a just self-respect ; and this, coupled with his firm- 



At West Point. ii 

ness and known perseverance, soon secured good con- 
duct and respect towards him on their part. 

Grant appreciated the advantages he enjoyed at 
West Point, and he was grateful to the country which 
afforded them. His youthful patriotism, too, received a 
new impulse from the associations with which he was 
surrounded, and the places celebrated in revolutionary 
history which lay all about him. Patriotism and duty 
to the country, which, as a cadet, he specially owed, 
were always acknowledged by him, and were the in- 
spiring motives of his conduct in the day of the nation's 
peril. There were those with him there who never 
experienced such emotions ; who daily saw the records 
of their country's heroes, and moved amid the scenes 
hallowed by the services and sacrifices of Washington 
and his compatriots, and yet never felt a throb of 
genuine patriotism, of love for the whole country, and 
never breathed a vow of fidelity to the government 
which educated them for its defence. Their pride was 
in their narrow states, and in the institution which made 
them rulers over an " inferior race." When the hour 
of the country's trial came, these men were found on 
the side of the rebellion, false to their country, false to 
their early associations, false to their oaths. If they 
have not gone down to traitors' graves, they may learn 
from the nobler career of Grant that patriotism and 
fidelity are their own great reward, and are gratefully 
acknowledged by a loyal people. 

On the ist of July, 1843, Grant, having passed the 
final examination at West Point, graduated the twenty- 
first scholar in his class, which numbered thirty-nine. 
It was not a high rank, but he had profited by what he 



12 Life of General Grant. 

had acquired there ; and his natural characteristics of 
persistency and fidelity had been strengthened, so that 
he was better qualified for the duties of active 'service 
than many who possessed more showy attainments or 
a higher scientific knowledge. He was commissioned 
as brevet second lieutenant, and assigned to the Fourth 
Regiment of Infantry. His love of horses would 
probably have led him to select the cavalry arm of the 
service, but his comparative low rank as a scholar 
consigned him to the infantry. 



In the Army. 



13 



CHAPTER II. 

In the Army. — Frontier Service. — Characteristics as a young Offi- 
cer. — In Texas. — The Mexican War. — His first Battle. — Cool- 
ness and Bravery at Resaca de la Palma. — A steady, plucky Offi- 
cer. — Appointed regimental Quartermaster. — Joins Scott's Army. 

— Tact, Energy, and Perseverance. — Not content with Quarter- 
master's Duties. — Participates in Battles. — Conspicuous Gallantry 
at Chepultepec. — Brevet First Lieutenant and Brevet Captain. 

— His Reputation earned by Merit and Service, not by Favorit- 
ism. — Return to the United States. — Married. — His Fortunes 
shared by his Wife ; the higher Honors yet to be shared. — Ordered 
to the Pacific Coast. — Service in Oregon. — Promotion. — Re- 
signs. — A Farmer in Missouri. — Careless Independence. — A 
Patriot, but no Politician. — Enters the Leather Business with his 
Father and Brother. — A higher Destiny reserved for him. 

WHEN Grant received his first commission, the 
little army of the United States was occupied 
chiefly on the western frontier, a few troops only 
garrisoning the more important forts along the Atlantic 
seaboard, and on the shores of the Great Lakes. The 
Fourth Infantry was stationed on the western frontier 
to protect settlers from the Indians. The hostility of 
some of the Indians occasionally made the duties of the 
troops somewhat active, though no engagements oc- 
curred, and no very long marches were made. The 
duties of this service, however, were of no little ad- 
vantage to the young officer, who was always ready to 
learn by experience, faithful to the details of his duty, 
and willing to work. Though the routine was tedious 



14 Life of General Grant. 

and irksome, nothing was neglected, and every oppor- 
tunity of acquiring solid information upon matters con- 
nected with his profession was improved. As an officer 
he was the same good-natured and unassuming but 
firm, persevering, and reticent youth that he had been 
as a cadet at West Point. He was esteemed by his 
comrades and superiors as a young officer of moderate 
ability, but of undoubted pluck, perseverance, and self- 
reliance. In the ordinary duties of the army in time 
of peace, even on the frontier, he was not likely to 
become distinguished, nor to rise except by the slowest 
promotion. But those qualities for which he was justly 
esteemed were such as are needed in emergencies, and 
the value of which can be best proved by the inexorable 
demands of war. 

In 1845, when the annexation of Texas threatened 
to involve the country in war with Mexico, the Fourth 
Infantry was sent to Texas, where it afterwards formed 
a part of General Taylor's "Army of Observation." 
Grant at this time was commissioned as full second 
lieutenant, and transferred to the Seventh Infantry ; 
but at the request of the officers of the Fourth he was 
soon restored to that regiment. The advance of the 
Mexican army into Texas, where it besieged Fort 
Brown, precipitated the war with Mexico. General 
Taylor marched from Corpus Christi to the relief of 
the beleaguered fort, and encountered a large Mexican 
force on the march, when the battle of Palo Alto took 
place, May 8, 1846. Grant was with his regiment 
upon that field, and discharged his duties with a stead- 
iness which was commended by his comrades and 
honorably mentioned by his superiors. The next day 



In the Mexican War. 15 

the more severe battle of Resaca de la Palma was 
fought, and the young lieutenant showed his quality as 
a soldier by his cool and persistent bravery. Those 
solid qualities, which in time of peace seemed to be of 
little account in a junior officer, began to reveal them- 
selves and prove their value. 

The Fourth Infantry remained with General Taylor 
till after the capture of Monterey, and participated in 
all the battles of old "Rough and Ready's" campaign, 
except that of Buena Vista. Grant's position as a cool 
and plucky officer was well established in his regiment, 
while his methodical attention to his duties were rec- 
ognized by his superior officers, and led to his being 
placed upon the regimental staff as quartermaster. 
His regiment was among those detached from General 
Taylor's command, and sent to join the larger army 
under General Scott, which was to advance from Vera 
Cruz to the city of Mexico. His duties as regimental 
quartermaster, on a campaign like this into the heart 
of the enemy's country, were arduous and responsible, 
and required great tact, energy, and perseverance. 
They were discharged in a manner creditable to his 
administrative ability and his indomitable energy. But 
he was not satisfied with the faithful discharge of these 
most important duties ; he desired to share in the dan- 
gers of the battle-field also, believing that " the post of 
danger is the post of duty." He participated in the 
bloody battles of Molino del Rey and Chepultepec, and 
was so conspicuous for his gallantry and successful 
service in the latter battle, where he bravely led a gal- 
lant charge, that he received honorable mention from 
General Worth, and was made brevet first lieutenant, 



1 6 Life of General Grant. 

and subsequently brevet captain, the latter commission 
dating from September 13, 1847, the date of the last- 
named battle. 

Grant earned his reputation and his promotion in 
this Mexican campaign by his own solid abilities and 
actual achievements. He was unknown beyond his 
own regiment, was no pet at headquarters, and was not 
regarded by influential officers as a young man :t of 
great promise " whom they desired to advance. Nor 
had he shown simply a temporary dash and enthusi- 
asm, which at times are desirable on the battle-lield, 
but are not always to be relied upon for good results. 
He was distinguished for cool and steady bravery, 
that inspired his men with confidence, and a persistency 
that overcame all obstacles. The substantial services 
which he rendered by these qualities were conspicuous 
to those about him, and were thus brought to the notice 
of superiors who had never heard of him. They were 
duly acknowledged by those superior officers, but noth- 
ing more than simple justice was done. It could not 
be said in his case that he received honorable mention 
or promotion either because he was a favorite with his 
superiors, or had made a brilliant display of bravery 
under the eye of the commanding general. 

When the Mexican war was ended, and the victori- 
ous army returned to the United States, the Fourth 
Infantry was stationed at different posts on the north- 
ern frontier along the Great Lakes. While thus sta- 
tioned, awaiting recruits to fill up the ranks thinned by 
death and discharges, the officers of the regiment en- 
joyed furloughs, after their long and arduous service. 
At this time Grant, still holding the rank of lieutenant, 



In Oregon. 



17 



though a captain by brevet, married an accomplished 
and excellent lady, Miss Julia T. Dent, daughter of 
Frederick Dent, Esq., a merchant of St. Louis. Mrs. 
Grant has happily shared her husband's fortunes from 
the time when she married him, simply a lieutenant, 
till by his merits he has reached the highest military 
position ever given to an American officer ; and it is to 
be hoped that she will share with Him those higher 
honors which the American -peo-ple desire to bestow. 

In 1849 the Fourth Infantry was ordered to the 
Pacific, and a battalion to which Grant was attached 
was stationed in Oregon. While there he reached the 
rank of captain by regular promotion. In command 
of one of the posts of that region he faithfully discharged 
his duties, as in all his previous positions. But it was 
a time of profound peace, which promised to be of long 
duration, his duties were chiefly those of mere routine, 
promotion was slow, and active service of any kind 
was not likely to be required of him. He desired to 
provide more adequately for his wife and family, and 
under circumstances of less constraint to them. He 
therefore resigned his commission in 1854, *he year 
following his promotion, and returned home to enter 
the pursuits of civil life. 

He became the owner of a farm at Gravois, a few 
miles from St. Louis, and devoted himself to its culti- 
vation. It was not altogether a new business for him, 
for in his boyhood he had learned much of the work of 
a western farm, and how to turn his hand to useful 
employment. He was not afraid to work himself, nor 
to lend a helping hand even to a black laborer. Quiet 
and unassuming still, 'he was not above his business, 

2 



18 Life of General Grant. 

and was quite as content to be called Farmer Grant as 
Captain Grant, though generally known by the latter 
title. He carried the produce of his farm to market 
himself, and might often have been seen driving his 
laden team through the streets of St. Louis or other 
river towns, and loading or unloading his wagon with 
a careless independence of all observers. He was 
reticent and modest, attended to his own affairs, and 
never troubled himself about those of other people, 
unless his advice or opinion was sought. He cared 
little for politics, and still less for parties, though he 
always felt the genuine patriotism which he had mani- 
fested by his service in the field. But with all his 
rough work, and his neglect of affairs which engross 
so much of the attention of men in this country, he 
did not forget his old studies, or the culture of his 
mind. 

Thus he lived for some years, plodding on with 
characteristic perseverance in an occupation which, 
however honorable, was not always remunerative. 
But in i860 he embraced the opportunity of entering 
what promised to be a more lucrative business, and 
engaged in the leather trade with his father and brother 
at Galena, Illinois. This was another business for 
which he was fitted by his early experience in his 
father's tannery, as he was also fitted for any business 
by his characteristic perseverance and fidelity to duties. 
He brought to it his usual quiet energy, and the plans 
of a well-disciplined mind, and was undoubtedly an 
acquisition to the firm. What he might have been in 
this new pursuit it is impossible to say, except that he 



Called to Higher Duties. io 

probably would have been successful ; for still, as when 
a boy, he knew no such word as fail. But it was re- 
served for him to show his real merit and ability on a 
wider and more important field, where his natural 
characteristics and his early training should have full 
force in the service of his country. Before he had a 
fair opportunity to show his business talent he was 
called to those higher duties. 



2o Life of General Grant. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Rebellion. — Grant's Patriotism. — Raises a Company of Volun- 
teers. — Tenders his Services to the Governor of Illinois. — Good 
Service. — Desires to take the Field. — Thinks of a Position on 
McClcllan's Staff. — Fortunate Escape. — Appointed Colonel. — In 
Missouri. — Brigadier General. — An honorable Appointment. — 
At Cairo. — Kentucky Rebels. — Occupies Paducah. — Too prompt 
for Fremont. — Desires to advance against the Rebels. — Battle of 
Belmont. — Victory too much for new Troops. — Grant's Watchful- 
ness. — " We have whipped them once, boys, and we can do it 
again." — Narrow Escape. — The Purpose accomplished. — Mis- 
representations. — Grant's Generosity to his Subordinates. — " Bet- 
ter that I should suffer, than the Country lose the Services of such 
Officers." — Fort Henry. — Halleck's Want of Appreciation. — Fort 
Donelson. — Grant's Determination. — The Fort invested. — Ei. • 
gagements. — The rebel Prisoner. — Prompt Decision. — Attack 
and Victory. — Rebel Flag of Truce. — No Terms but Unco7iditio7ial 
Surrender. — The Capture of Prisoners. — The Effect of the Vic- 
tory on the Country. 

GRANT, as before remarked, had never taken 
much interest in political affairs, both on account 
of his quiet, retiring disposition and his training as an 
officer, and he gave but little attention to the agita- 
tion which preceded secession and rebellion. But his 
patriotism led him to support the government against 
all assailants ; and when the secessionists collected 
troops at Charleston, and planted batteries around Fort 
Sumter, he avowed himself without reserve for the 
government. When the war was opened by the attack 
on Sumter, and President Lincoln issued his proclama- 



Tenders his Services. 21 

lion calling for troops, he did not hesitate a moment 
where his duty lay. 

The President's proclamation was issued on the 15th 
of April, 1861, and on the 19th Grant had raised a 
company of volunteers in Galena, and was drilling it 
for service. A few days afterwards he went with this 
company to Springfield, the capital of Illinois, and 
tendered his services to Governor Yates. The governor 
was quite willing to avail himself of the services of an 
educated officer like Grant, and desired that he should 
aid in organizing the troops volunteering in that state. 
Grant felt that he could be of more service to his 
country in the field, and that his duty required that he 
should go to the front and face the threatening danger. 
At the earnest request, however, of Governor Yates, 
who assured him that he should soon 4iave a commis- 
sion, he rendered valuable service in the organization 
and equipment of troops. 

While awaiting the expected commission, he found 
leisure to go to Cincinnati, hoping that he might be 
offered a place on the staff of Major General McClellan, 
then in command of Ohio troops.* He twice called at 
the headquarters of McClellan, whom he had known 
in the' army, but did not see that officer. It is hardly 
probable that Grant would have asked for such an ap- 
pointment, even had he seen McClellan, for it was not 
in his nature to solicit office or promotion ; and during 
his whole career not one of his promotions was sought 
by himself, or obtained through the influence of others 
by his desire.. Nor did he even suggest the idea to 
any one that he desired an appointment on McClellan's 

* General Badeau's Military History of U. S. Grant. 



22 Life of General Grant. 

staff. Had it been offered to him he would have ac- 
cepted it with alacrity, for he was ready to serve his 
country in any capacity, and had no undue opinion of 
his own abilities. It is fortunate for the country that 
McClellan did not offer him a staff appointment, for he 
would then have been in a subordinate position, where 
his characteristics and ability as an officer could not 
have been displayed ; and had he remained in that 
position he would have suffered from the mistakes and 
policy of that general, and circumstances would thus 
have changed his whole military career. 

Grant was probably disappointed, though he never 
expressed any such feeling ; but his disappointment 
was the country's greatest gain. Returning to Spring- 
field, he was very soon commissioned as colonel of the 
Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois volunteers, and with 
that regiment, early in June, he marched to Northern 
Missouri, and joined the forces of General Pope, who 
was engaged in putting down the guerrilla bands that 
infested that portion of the state. Ordered successively 
to different positions in this part of the country, he was 
faithfully discharging the arduous and not very agree- 
able duties of this kind of a campaign, when he was 
informed by the newspapers that he had been appointed 
a brigadier general. He received this appointment at 
the suggestion of Hon. E. B. Washburne, member of 
Congress from the Galena district ; and it was all the 
more honorable to both parties, inasmuch as Mr. Wash- 
burne was but very slightly acquainted with Grant, and 
had nominated him, not from personal friendship, but 
because of the solid qualities which he was known to 
possess, his military education, and his good record in 



Assigned to an Important Command. 23 

the old army. But neither Mr. Washburnc, nor any 
one else at that time, knew the real ability of the man, 
or imagined the military genius which the opportunities 
of the war would reveal. He was commissioned on 
the 7th of August, to date from May 17, 1861, about 
the time he was appointed colonel by Governor Yates. 

On the 1st of September Grant was assigned, by 
Major General Fremont, commanding the Western 
Department, to the command of the South-eastern Dis- 
trict of Missouri, which included the southern part of 
Illinois and the western part of Kentucky and Tennes- 
see, as far as the Union forces should advance.. The 
governor of Kentucky, whose sympathy was more with 
the rebels than with the government, was endeavoring 
to have Kentucky maintain a neutral position in the 
contest; and all the rebels of that state, and not a few 
of those who claimed to be Union men, took the same 
ground. They sought to keep the national forces from 
their soil equally with the rebel forces — a measure which 
would have redounded entirely to the advantage of the 
rebels, who were collecting large forces in Tennessee, 
and were openly aided by their sympathizers in Ken- 
tucky. The real Union sentiment of that state was 
thus almost wholly repressed, and the state would have 
been soon controlled by the secessionists, who com- 
mitted the grossest outrages upon Union men, and 
were preparing, under the guise of neutrality, to join 
the rebels. 

The government did not recognize this neutrality, 
but claimed the right to move its troops to any part of 
the soil of the United States. General Grant was the 
first to exercise this right, and he exercised it promptly, 



24 Life of General Grant. 

knowing that it was war, and no game of politics, in 
which the country was engaged. He established his 
headquarters at Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio, on the 
4th of September, and at once set himself at work not 
only to strengthen that important point, but to secure 
the safety of his district, and commence operations 
against the enemy. On the day of his arrival at Cairo, 
the rebels were the first to violate the assumed neutrality 
of Kentucky by occupying Columbus, a strong position 
on the Mississippi. Grant saw the danger of this 
movement, and determined to check any further ad- 
vance by at once entering Kentucky with the Union 
forces. He prepared to take possession of Paducah, at 
the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio. 
Having notified General Fremont of his intention, and 
receiving no objection from that officer, he started for 
Paducah on the night of the 5th. He also notified the 
governor of Kentucky, and was rebuked by Fremont 
for holding any communication with state authorities, 
except through his superior officer. But Grant made 
no complaint of this, or any other disapproval of his 
course ; for though he felt fully justified by his own 
calm judgment, he was a thorough soldier, and was 
always subordinate. He occupied Paducah, and se- 
cured it against a rebel force which was approaching, 
and against the treachery of malignant rebel residents. 
By the real Union men his movement was hailed with 
joy ; and notwithstanding the complaints of those who 
loudly asserted the neutrality of Kentucky, that state 
was, by that prompt movement, secured to the Union 
cause. After the deed was done, Grant received per- 
mission from Fremont to attempt it " if he felt strong 
enough." 



Battle of Belmont. 25 

The seizure of Paducah first made Grant's name 
known to the country, though he did not receive the 
full credit to which he was entitled by his prompt 
action and the importance of the movement. The re- 
buke of his superior, on a matter of etiquette, served to 
derogate from his merit. This, however, had no effect 
upon Grant's zeal, and he continued to devote himself 
to the organization of his forces and the security of his 
district, with his usual quiet but untiring energy. He 
asked permission to attempt the capture of Columbus 
before it was made too strong by rebel fortifications ; 
but no notice was taken of the request, and he was 
allowed to make no movement of importance. 

In the early part of November, however, Fremont 
ordered Grant to make a demonstration towards Colum- 
bus, to prevent the rebels from sending reinforcements 
from that place to Price's army in South-western Mis- 
souri. This led to the battle of Belmont, Grant per- 
ceiving that an attack upon the rebels there would be 
the most effective way of preventing the rebel move- 
ments. His purpose was to destroy the rebel camp, 
disperse or capture their forces, and then retire before 
they could be reenforced from Columbus. He moved 
from Cairo the night of the 6th of November, with a 
little more than three thousand men, most of them new 
troops, and officered by men who had never seen an 
engagement. The troops were landed the next morn- 
ing, about three miles from Belmont, which is opposite 
Columbus, on the Missouri shore. Marching towards 
that place, the enemy was encountered, and a heavy 
fight ensued, lasting four hours. Officers and men 
behaved nobly, and the rebels were driven step by step. 



26 Life of General Grant. 

Grant, being the only officer who had seen service, 
found it necessary to direct even the details of move- 
ments, and was constantly in the skirmish line, en- 
couraging his men by his presence, coolness, and 
bravery. His horse was shot under him, and he was 
constantly exposed to the enemy's fire. The rebels 
were driven to the bank of the river, and all their ar- 
tillery and several hundred prisoners were captured. 

Their success was too much for the Union troops. 
Officers and men joined at once in a general rejoicing, 
regardless of all discipline and the danger of rebel 
reinforcements from Columbus. But Grant was watch- 
ful, though almost powerless with his mob of an army; 
and perceiving that the enemy was sending more 
troops from Columbus, he ordered his staff to set fire 
to the rebel camp. Succeeding at last in securing some 
discipline, he ordered a return to the transports. But 
the defeated enemy had in the mean time been reenforced 
and re-formed, and they made an attempt to cut off the 
retreat. The undisciplined troops were somewhat dis- 
concerted. A staff officer rode up to Grant, exclaim- 
ing, "We are surrounded!" "If that is so," coolly 
replied Grant, " we must cut our way out as we cut our 
way in." Riding to the front, he encouraged his men, 
saying, "We have whipped them once, boys, and we 
can do it again." The troops had already learned their 
commander's pluck, and making a vigorous attack they 
dispersed the rebel line. 

With his inexperienced officers, Grant was obliged 
to attend to all the details of the retreat, and the collec- 
tion of the wounded. The main body of the troops had 
reembarked on board the transports ; and the reserves, 



A Narrow Escape. 27 

which had been left to guard the boats, had also, 
through ignorance, embarked; but the general was 
still out attending to the execution of his orders, and 
awaiting the return of some of the detachments looking 
for the wounded. While thus engaged he found him- 
self suddenly confronted by the rebels, who were still 
further reenforced, and not fifty yards distant. Fortu- 
nately he was not recognized as an officer; and after 
closely observing the position of affairs, he rode slowly 
away, finding it necessary to leave the parties which 
were still looking for the wounded. As he approached 
the river, he put spurs to his horse, and galloped hard 
to the bank, down which the animal slid on his 
haunches. The bullets were whistling about him, and 
the rebels were rapidly • extending their line. The 
troops were all aboard, except the parties above named, 
and the boats were just leaving the landing when Grant 
thus appeared. A plank was put out from the last 
boat, and Grant rode aboard under a heavy, but hap- 
pily an ineffectual, fire from the enemy. It appeared 
afterwards that the enemy had seen Grant, and that 
Polk, the rebel general, had called upon some of his 
troops to try their aim on him, though not knowing 
that he was an officer. 

Grant had accomplished his purpose, though, owing 
to the want of discipline in his troops, not so quickly 
and effectually as he had desired. The enemy were 
well beaten at first ; and again when, with more troops, 
he undertook to intercept the Union forces on their 
return to the boats, they were dispersed. When, with 
further reinforcements under Polk himself, they at- 
tacked the transports, the heavy fire of shell and grape 



28 Life of General Grant. 

from the gunboats yet again routed them with severe 
loss. With three thousand troops Grant had encoun- 
tered about seven thousand rebels, and inflicted on 
them a loss one half greater than his own, besides the 
destruction of their, camp and the capture of guns. 
Besides this he accomplished the principal object of the 
movement, which was to prevent Polk from sending 
reinforcements to Price. 

But, as in the seizure of Paducah, Grant did not re- 
ceive the credit which he deserved for this movement. 
Inexperienced soldiers, and correspondents of newspa- 
pers who did not know the object of the movement, 
were deceived by the sudden retreat and return of the 
troops to Cairo. Their representations, and perhaps 
those of an oilicer whose conceit and insubordina- 
tion were afterwards the cause of trouble, led the 
country to believe that it was a failure. So far as the 
first victory was not so complete as it might have been, 
it was due to the wild exultation of the brave but un- 
disciplined soldiers, and the stump speeches of their 
equally inexperienced officers. But the success was 
substantial ; and Grant, with characteristic generosity, 
overlooked the faults of inexperience, and did not seek 
to excuse himself, or correct wrong impressions, by 
attributing even a partial failure to his subordinates. 
When asked why he did not report the colonels who 
had proved so inefficient in maintaining discipline, he 
replied, " These officers had never been under lire 
before ; they did not know how serious an affair it was ; 
they have had a lesson which they will not forget. I 
will answer for it, they will never make the same mis- 
take again. I can see that they are of the right stuff, 



Anxious to Advance. 29 

and it is better that I should suffer than the country 
should lose the services of such officers." This gener- 
ous spirit towards subordinates and associates he has 
manifested through his whole career. 

Immediately after the battle of Belmont, Major 
General Halleck superseded General Fremont in com- 
mand of the Western Department. Grant was con- 
tinued in command of his district, but for two months 
he was allowed to make no movement against the 
enemy. In the mean time the rebels occupied a strong 
line, extending from Columbus to Bowling Green, in 
Kentucky. Both these places, especially the former, 
were strongly fortified ; and midway in the line, where 
the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers are separated 
but ten or twelve miles, they had forts commanding these 
rivers. Thus all advance towards the rebel states by 
railroad or water was obstructed. In January, in 
obedience to instructions from Halleck, Grant sent two 
columns into Western Kentucky to prevent reinforce- 
ments being sent from Columbus to Buckner at Bowling 
Green. There was no engagement, but the object of 
the movement was accomplished, for the rebels did not 
send reinforcements to Buckner ; and General Thomas 
defeated the enemy at Mill Spring, east of Bowling 
Green. The expedition led to the more important move- 
ments which first made General Grant famous in the war. 

General C. F. Smith, an able officer, who com- 
manded one of the columns sent into Western Kentucky, 
reported to Grant that the capture of Fort Henry, on 
the Tennessee, was feasible ; and the latter went to St. 
Louis to propose to Halleck a movement against that 
post, and to obtain the latter's permission to undertake 



30 Life of General Grant. 

it. General Halleck, in a manner which he more than 
once afterwards assumed towards Grant, so sharply 
and hastily disapproved it, that the subject was at once 
dropped. Halleck appears at this time, and until after 
he was appointed general-in-chief, to have entertained 
a poor opinion of Grant's abilities, though he afterwards 
came to recognize them. But the advantage of captur- 
ing Fort Henry, opening the Tennessee to the rear of 
the rebel positions, though not apparent to McClellan 
and Halleck, was so impressed upon Grant's mind, 
that about the end of January he again applied to Hal- 
leck for permission to make the advance. Commodore 
Foote, commanding the naval force at Cairo, also wrote 
to Halleck recommending such a movement. The 
desired permission was obtained, and on the 2d of 
February Grant left Cairo with seventeen thousand 
men on transports, accompanied by seven gunboats 
under Commodore Foote. Making a reconnoissance 
himself on board one of the gunboats, so as to draw 
the lire of the rebel guns and ascertain their range, 
Grant landed his advance forces just out of range. 
This force, under McClernand, was to move out to the 
rear of the fort to intercept retreat and cut off recnforce- 
ments, while the gunboats undertook to reduce the fort 
on the river front. All Grant's forces were not up, but 
it was deemed important that there should be no delay, 
and he instructed McClernand that success might 
depend on the celerity of his movements. The troops 
moved from the river on the morning of February 6, and 
the gunboats at the same time moved up to attack the 
fort. Commodore Foote was not prepared for so 
speedy success as his heavy guns achieved ; for after a 



Not Content with Partial Success. 31 

fire of an hour and a half, all the rebel guns were 
silenced. The fort was surrendered while the troops 
were moving through the overflowed and almost im- 
passable country to the position indicated. When they 
arrived at the rebel outworks in the rear, the enemy 
had already retreated towards Fort Donelson, on the 
Cumberland, and only a few men were captured in the 
fort. Pursuit failed to overtake them ; but the most 
important success of opening the Tennessee was ac- 
complished, and the gunboats went up the river, greatly 
to the terror of the rebel inhabitants of the interior of 
Tennessee. 

But Grant, having taken the field, did not intend to 
content himself with the success so speedily achieved 
by the gunboats. He telegraphed to General Halleck, 
* Fort Henry is ours. ... I shall take and destroy 
Fort Donelson on the 8th, and return to Fort Henry." 
Nothing had been said before about a movement 
against Fort Donelson ; and it is not unlikely that such 
a proposition might have prevented the attack on Fort 
Henry, or delayed it till the Union forces were still 
stronger, and the rebels were also reenforced. Hal- 
leck, however, did not object, and Grant forthwith 
made his preparations to bring up additional forces, 
and to lay his plans for a joint land and naval attack. 
Prompt in his decision, he was also prompt and vigor- 
ous in his movements. 

The rapid rise of the waters of the Tennessee, and 
the absence of the gunboats up that river, delayed 
operations for some days ; but Grant in the mean time 
exerted himself to bring up reinforcements, and to 
mature his preparations. General Halleck seconded 



32 Life of General Grant. 

his efforts, though he gave no advice or encouragement 
for an advance. It was Grant's own plan in its con- 
ception and in its details. Before all the reinforcements 
which were ordered to his support had arrived, he 
determined to move, believing that it was important to 
act promptly. He therefore urged Flag Officer Foote 
to hasten his preparations, and offered such aid as was 
in his power, in order to get some gunboats up the 
Cumberland, to attack Fort Donelson on the river side. 
" Start as soon as you like," he wrote ; " I will be ready 
to cooperate at any moment." Such was his prompt- 
ness at all times. Other movements were never obliged 
to wait for him to be ready. 

The gunboats at last being prepared, on the nth of 
February Grant's forces moved from Fort Henry with- 
out tents or baggage, and with no supplies except ammu- 
nition and the rations contained in the soldiers' haver- 
sacks. The march was accomplished without obstruc- 
tion, and the. Union troops were in front of the rebel 
fort before night. On the 12th and 13th they were 
gradually advanced till the fort was well invested. No 
attack was made, owing to the non-arrival of the gun- 
boats and reinforcements on the Cumberland, but there 
was constant skirmishing, and one or two heavy 
engagements by reconnoitring parties, while the ar- 
tillery also commenced operations, and there were all 
the indications of a general battle. The weather grew 
intensely cold, snow fell, and the soldiers suffered 
much. They could build no fires in consequence of 
the nearness of the rebel pickets, with whom their 
was a sharp skirmish during the night. Though 
Grant felt keenly for the sufferings of his men, he 



Fort Donelson. 33 

knew that success depended upon his persistency, and 
that he could rely on the endurance of his troops. He 
must therefore hold on, in spite of the elements and the 
rebel strength, till the gunboats and re enforcements 
arrived, when he was confident of success. Before 
daylight on the 14th the boats arrived, and the re- 
enforcements were put in position as soon as the condi- 
tion of the country would permit. 

An attack was made by the gunboats, and if it had 
been attended with even partial success, Grant was to 
have assaulted on the land side. But the boats were 
disabled, and suffered considerable loss in men, Flag 
Officer Foote himself being wounded. This was a 
serious disappointment to Grant, who had hoped to 
take the fort without a protracted siege. He w r as 
determined to take it, however, either by siege or 
assault, and never doubted the successful issue. In a 
conference with Foote, the latter stated that he could 
not renew the attack until he had been to Cairo to 
repair his gunboats, and urged Grant to remain quiet 
until he could return. Whether the latter, with his large 
reinforcements, would have been content to have taken 
this course, is uncertain ; but the rebels themselves 
were not disposed to wait till they were more completely 
invested, and they accordingly massed their forces and 
made a heavy attack on Grant's right. Notwithstand- 
ing their long exposure and suffering from the severe 
storm of snow and sleet, the Union troops fought 
bravely. But the rebels had massed a superior force 
against the right, and they drove it back till checked 
by reinforcements. Even the latter were gradually 
pressed back, and the rebels seemed to have secured a 

3 



34 Life of General Grant. 

dearly-bought success, though they were not able to 
break through the Union lines, as they desired. 

Grant was returning from a conference with the dis- 
abled commodore when he was first informed of this 
desperate attack by the enemy, and its partial success. 
Ordering General Smith, who commanded the left, to 
hold himself in readiness, he hurried to the scene of 
conflict, and quickly ascertained the real condition of 
affairs. The stubborn bravery of his troops encouraged 
him, and he saw that the enemy had not accomplished 
their purpose, although they had pressed back his 
lines. From all the representations" of his officers, he 
at once judged that the rebels had made a desperate 
assault for the purpose of cutting their way out and 
escaping. He caused some prisoners to be brought up 
for examination. They had on their knapsacks, and 
their haversacks were well tilled. 

" How many days' rations have you in your haver- 
sack? " inquired the general of one of the prisoners. 

" Six," replied the prisoner. 

" When were they served out ? " 

"Yesterday." 

" Were all the troops served with the same rations? " 

"They were." 

The prisoners were removed, and further inquiry 
amona;- his own officers satisfied Grant that the last 
statement was correct. 

"Gentlemen," said he to the higher officers about 
him, "troops do not have six days' rations served out to 
them in a fort if they mean to stay there. These rebels 
mean to cut their way out, and that is what they have 
been trying to do, but didn't quite succeed." Then 



Too Quick for the Rebels. 35 

adding, with his characteristic determination, "Which- 
ever party first attacks now will whip ; and the rebels 
will have to be quick if they beat me," he put spurs to 
his horse and hurried to the left of his line. 

The troops on his right had suffered severely, and 
were a little demoralized; but he knew their bravery 
and endurance, and that they would recover their spirit 
and be ready to endure still more if they were assured 
of victory. As he rode rapidly along, he gave hasty 
but cheering words of encouragement to them, which 
had the desired effect. His plans were quickly formed. 
He sent orders to Smith to make a vigorous assault, 
and directed McClernand and Wallace, on the right, 
to renew the battle as soon as Smith commenced his 
attack. At the same time he sent to Commodore 
Foote, requesting him to make a demonstration with 
such gunboats as were in condition to do so. In his 
note to Foote he wrote, "A terrible conflict ensued in 
my absence, which has demoralized a part of my com- 
mand, and I think the enemy is much more so. If the 
gunboats do not appear, it will reassure the enemy, and 
still further demoralize our troops. I must order a 
charge to save appearances." 

This was characteristic of Grant. He did not with- 
draw from the enemy's front at a critical moment 
because he had suffered a partial reverse, but he 
encouraged his own men by promptly assuming the 
offensive,, and disheartened the enemy when exhausted 
by their desperate efforts. At Donelson, as on other 
fields where he acted with the same persistency and 
promptness, his tactics were successful. General 
Smith, who was a thorough soldier and a brave and 



36 Life of General Grant. 

skilful officer, made a brilliant assault ; and after hard 
fighting his troops made their way through abatis and 
over rifle-pits inside the rebel intrenchments. At the 
same time the troops of McClernand and Wallace, 
encouraged by the words and confidence of Grant, 
renewed the battle and regained the ground they had 
lost earlier in the day. Night, however, came too soon 
for the entire success of the Union army. A half hour 
more of daylight and the fort would have been carried 
by storm. But without the cost of another assault the 
victory was won. 

While the troops slept on the frozen ground which 
they had so bravely gained, the demoralized and 
beaten rebels were dreading a renewal of the battle, 
and their highest officers were preparing to desert the 
men who had fought under them. Floyd and Pillow, 
traitors to their cause and their comrades, as well as to 
their country, fled with as many troops as they could 
crowd into two steamers ; and Buckner, the third in 
rank, was left to perform the disagreeable duty of sur- 
rendering. Buckner sent a messenger to General 
Grant, proposing an armistice and the appointment of 
commissioners to settle terms of capitulation. Grant's 
reply was prompt and decisive : "No terms except un- 
conditional and immediate surrender can be accepted. 
I propose to move immediately upon your works." 

Buckner styled the terms "ungenerous and un- 
chivalrous," but he was compelled to accept them. 
Grant, however, though never exhibiting a weak 
generosity towards the enemy, was never wanting in 
proper magnanimity. He rode to the headquarters of 
Buckner, who was a cadet with him at West Point, 



Results of Victory. 37 

and allowed honorable terms to the prisoners, as Buck- 
ner himself voluntarily declared to his own soldiers. 
But in doing this he yielded no results of his brilliant 
victory. A most important rebel position was taken, 
with more guns than Grant had in his own forces, and 
fifteen thousand prisoners ; while twenty-five hundred 
of the enemy were killed and w r ounded, and the three 
or four thousand fugitives who w r ent with Floyd were 
completely demoralized. 

The country needed such a victory to dispel the 
clouds of anxiety, and doubt, and impatience, w r hich 
hung over the military horizon ; and the army needed 
it to inspire hope and enthusiasm, which were well 
nigh extinguished by long delays and petty defeats. 
In itself, and in its important results, it had a glorious 
effect, and General Grant now first became known to 
the whole country, and received its gratitude. His 
prompt reply to Buckner gave to his initials the popular 
name of Unconditional Surrender Grant ; and 
through his whole career he has maintained his title to 
that name, always exacting unconditional surrender 
from the enemies of his country. 



38 Life of General Grant. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Appointed Major General of Volunteers. — Halleck's Notions. — 
General Smith. — Enemies and Unbelievers. — Misrepresentations 
unnoticed. — Misconception of Grant's Abilities. — Grant's Strat- 
egy. — " Up, Guards, and at them ! " — Appreciative Friends. — Mr. 
Stanton and General Sherman. — Grant and Sherman contrasted. 
— Undeserved Censure by Ilalleck. — Grant's noble Reply. — His 
Conduct justified. — Up the Tennessee. — Pittsburg Landing-. — 
Battle of Shiloh. — His Energy on the Field. — The Day saved by 
his obstinate Resistance. — Stragglers' Stories. — Grant's Ideas of 
Retreat. — He didn't intend to be beaten. — He assumes the 
Offensive. — Promptness and Energy- — His Orders given per- 
sonally. — The Battle renewed. — Leads the Charge of Ohio 
Troops. — Victory. — Jealousy and Ignorance seek to deprive him 
of the Honors. — Ilalleck restive. — lie takes Command. — Over- 
Caution. — Grant's Position. — His Sense of Wrong. — Grant and 
Sherman. — A Friendship fortunate for the Country. — Ilalleck 
called to Washington, and Grant resumes Command. — Defensive 
Operations. — " Honor to whom Honor is due." 

IN recognition of his victory Grant was at once 
nominated by the President as a Major General of 
volunteers, and the nomination was promptly confirmed 
by the Senate, February 19, 1862. General Halleck, 
commanding the Western Department, and thus Grant's 
superior officer, appears to have ignored Grant, and 
in his letters and despatches speaks of " our " move- 
ments and "our" victory, without a word for him fo 
whom belonged the honor of the victory. Halleck 
also recommended that Smith should be appointed a 
Major General, and said that to him belonged the credit 



Grant and Smith. 



39 



of the victory ; but he made no mention of Grant, who 
had not yet been promoted. Yet Ilalleck had nothiiv 
to do with the operations against Fort Donelson, except 
to send forward reinforcements. Grant was the pro- 
jector of the movement as well as the commanding 
officer; and all the operations and attacks, including 
the assault by Smith's division, were ordered by him. 
Smith did not claim the honor, but declared that he 
only obeyed orders ; and he was subsequently recom- 
mended by Grant, who was always generous to his 
subordinates, for promotion for his services. Smith 
was Grant's senior in years and in the service. He 
was commandant at West Point when Grant was a 
cadet, and the latter felt some delicacy in assuming 
command over his old instructor. But the veteran 
soldier was trained to subordination, and he soon put 
at rest all Grant's doubts, and carried out his orders 
with the greatest vigor and alacrity. 

Grant appears to have had at that time, as at all 
times during the war and since, secret enemies, who 
depreciated his abilities and his achievements, and did 
not hesitate to circulate malignant calumnies concern- 
ing him. They were either jealous of his success, or 
w T ere the enemies of the country, who did not wish to 
have the rebels conquered, and therefore hated an 
officer who was disposed to seek out the enemy and 
defeat him. These same enemies have followed him 
through all his career, no less since the war than dur- 
ing its continuance, only, as his reputation increased 
and he became firmly fixed in the affections of the peo- 
ple, their attacks have been more wary and insidious. 
Then there were others who detracted from his real 



40 Life of General Grant. 

merits because they did not understand the man or his 
purposes, and were governed by the misrepresentations 
of his enemies. 

To correct misrepresentations, or counteract the 
machinations of enemies, Grant never made any effort. 
Obedient to orders, faithful to his duties, aiming always 
to serve his country in any capacity, never jealous of 
his fellow-officers, and never insubordinate, he neither 
found time nor showed any desire to set himself right 
before the government or the country, except by his 
deeds. He did not, like some generals, take pains to 
keep his :r communications with the press " open. He 
did not divulge his plans to newspaper correspondents, 
nor boast of what he was going to do or what he had 
done. He did not encourage toadyism, nor listen to 
flatterers. He was reserved, and kept his own counsels 
as far as possible. He was therefore only known by 
what he accomplished ; and because his plans were not 
known before, it was supposed that his successes were 
simply accidental, or due to his subordinates. 

General Badeau, in his admirable "Military History" 
of General Grant, says, :f It is impossible to understand 
the early history of the war, without taking it into ac- 
count that neither the government nor its important 
commanders gave Grant credit for intellectual ability 
or military genius. 

f His other qualities were also rated low. Because 
he was patient, some thought it impossible to provoke 
him ; and because of his calmness, it was supposed he 
was stolid. In battle, or in campaigning, he did not 
seem to care or consider so much what the enemy was 
doing, as what he himself meant to do; and this trait, 



Idea of a Great Commander. 41 

to enthusiastic and even brilliant soldiers, appeared in- 
explicable. A great commander, it was imagined, 
should be nervous, excitable, inspiring his men and 
captivating his officers ; calling private soldiers by their 
names, making eloquent addresses in the field, and 
waving his drawn sword in battle. Great commanders 
had done all these things and won ; and many men, 
who could do all these things, fancied themselves, 
therefore, great commanders. Others imagined wisdom 
to consist in science alone ; they sought success in 
learned and elaborate plans, requiring months to de- 
velop, when the enemy was immediately before them ; 
they manoeuvred when it was time to fight; they in- 
trenched when they should have attacked, and studied 
books when the field should have been their only 
problem. 

" Grant was like none of these. If he possessed 
acquirements, he appeared unconscious of them ; he 
made no allusions to the schools, and never hesitated 
to transgress their rules when the occasion seemed to 
him to demand it. So he neither won men's hearts by 
blandishments, nor affected their imaginations by bril- 
liancy of behavior ; nor did he seem profound to those 
who are impressed only by a display of learning." 

But by his career, when uncontrolled by his superi- 
ors, he proved to these sceptics that he possessed both 
intellectual ability and military genius, and upset their 
preconceived notions of a great commander. 

Grant did not have a very exalted opinion of r strat- 
egy " in the common acceptation of the word, though 
he was in fact a successful strategist and a master of 
grand tactics. 



42 Life. of General Grant. 

" I don't believe in strategy in the popular under- 
standing of the term," he once said to one of his officers. 
"I use it to get up just as close to the enemy as is 
practicable with as little loss as possible." 

" And what then? " asked the officer. 

" Then? f Up, guards, and at 'em ! ' " replied Grant, 
with more than his usual animation. And that was a 
fair general statement of his style of campaign. 

Among those who early appreciated, if they did not 
do full justice -to Grant's capacity, was Hon. Edwin M. 
Stanton, secretary of war, who thoroughly believed in 
Grant's " strategy " of seeking out the enemy and strik- 
ing him. In a public announcement of the victory at 
Fort Donelson, he said that "the true organization of 
victory and military combination to end this war was 
declared by General Grant's message to General Buck- 
ner : V propose to move immediately on your works?' 
Possibly the implied rebuke to certain other com- 
manders, contained in this, served to add to the pre- 
judice of some against Grant. Mr. Stanton, however, 
never saw reason to change his estimate of Grant, and 
gave him the heartiest support through the war, till out 
of their official relations arose a cordial friendship. 

General Sherman was another who was not slow to 
appreciate Grant's merits. He was in command at 
Cairo when the battle of Fort Donelson occurred, and 
labored with great zeal to send forward troops and 
supplies. He warmly congratulated Grant on his 
victory and his deserved promotion. To this Grant 
replied in a manner which shows his modesty, his 
generosity, and his patriotism : " I feel under many 
obligations to you for the kind terms of your letter, and 



Grant and Sherman. . 43 

hope that, should an opportunity occur, 3*011 will earn 
for 3*ourself that promotion which 3*011 are kind enough 
to say belongs to me. I care nothing for promotion so 
long as our arms are successful, and no political ap- 
pointments are made." The last words refer to the 
appointment of high officers from civil life, for political 
considerations alone, and not for military capachy, an 
instance of which Grant had already experienced. 
The friendship, which commenced with this cor- 
respondence, between these two distinguished officers is 
well known to the country. It has been of the most 
cordial character, free from all jealousy on the part of 
each, generous, self-sacrificing, and altogether worthy 
of these two greatest commanders of the war. 

The two men possess the most opposite qualities in 
many respects, Sherman being nervous, impulsive, and 
excitable, while Grant is cool, firm, and imperturbable. 
Professor Mahan, a tutor at West Point while both 
were there, compares Grant to a powerful low-pressure 
engine, which condenses its own steam and consumes 
its own smoke, and which pushes steadily forward and 
drives all obstacles before it ; and likens Sherman to a 
high-pressure engine, which lets off both steam and 
smoke with a puff and a cloud, and dashes at its work 
with resistless vigor. 

After the victory at Fort Donelson, General Halleck, 
who, if he did not entertain a positive dislike for Grant, 
was not disposed to give him the credit he deserved, 
and was inclined to find fault with him, censured him 
for going to Nashville, — which Grant did for the sake 
of better understanding the position of affairs, — and 
complained that he did not make reports. This censure 



44 



Life of General Grant. 



and complaint were utterly undeserved. But though 
Grant was thereby placed under a cloud for a time, 
and seemed likely to be superseded in his command of 
active operations, he made no complaint, but showed 
that subordination which he knew was essential to the 
service, and manifested his readiness to do all in his 
power for the good of the cause, and to carry out the 
orders of his superior. r I have done my very best to 
obey orders," he wrote, " and to carry out the interests 
of the service. If my course is not satisfactory, remove 
me at once. I do not with in any way to impede the 
success of our arms." Unselfish and patriotic, he had 
no thought for himself, but only for the cause. Find- 
ing that he w r as misrepresented by secret enemies, and 
still censured, he repeatedly asked to be relieved from 
duty until he could be placed right in the estimation of 
those higher in authority. But Ilalleck at last perceived 
that the country could not spare so true and subordinate 
an officer, and wrote to him, " Instead of relieving you, 
I wish you, as soon as your new army is in the field, 
to assume the immediate command, and lead it on to 
new victories." This was enough, and Grant at once 
showed his readiness, in spite of all calumnies, to 
" give every effort to the success of the cause." Ilal- 
leck also made explanations to the War Department, 
which relieved Grant from the censure to which his 
(Halleck's) previous despatches had given rise. 

Grant was thus justified by his own acts, as well as 
by the judgment of all true soldiers, on the only occa- 
sion when his conduct was called in question at Wash- 
ington ; though his unselfish patriotism was subjected 
to yet further trials by his immediate superior. He had 



Battle of Siiiloii. 45 

already been appointed to the command of the District 
of West Tennessee, and when relieved from his un- 
merited disgrace, assumed command of the forces which 
were moving up the Tennessee, and the advance of 
which was encamped at Pittsburg Landing, awaitino- 
reinforcements. The rebels, alarmed at the movements 
in Tennessee, were concentrating large forces at Cor- 
inth, Miss., and Buell was ordered to march from 
Nashville with forty thousand men to support Grant. 
The latter intended, as soon as these troops arrived, to 
advance on Corinth. But Buell's movements were 
slow, and the rebels determined to attack Grant's army 
before it was reenforced ; and accordingly they ad- 
vanced from Corinth, sixty thousand strong. 

The position of the Union army at Pittsburg Land- 
ing was not selected by Grant, but by Smith before the 
former resumed command. It was naturally a good 
one, and it only required intrenchments to make it 
entirely safe till the time for an advance; but the 
western armies had not then learned the use of the pick 
and shovel. Grant made every effort to hurry forward 
the troops coming up from Cairo, and urged Buell to 
hasten on also. But the enemy, after various threat- 
ening movements, made their attack when the latter 
was a day's march away, and seemed in no great haste 
to reach the Tennessee, where he would be a subor- 
dinate. 

The limits of this work will not allow the giving of 
the details of the battle of Shiloh, or of any of Grant's 
campaigns, but simply the narration of some of the lead- 
ing events which show the ability and character of the 
general himself. Grant's headquarters were at Savan- 



46 • Life of General Grant. 

nah, and he was preparing to go in search of Buell ; but 
as soon as the attack was made, on the morning of 
April 6th, he hastened to the field, despatching an 
urgent message to Buell, and promptly making all the 
provision possible for the support of the troops already 
engaged. He anticipated the call for ammunition, and 
when cartridges were wanted they were already at 
hand, and a constant supply maintained. He was in 
all parts of the field, advising and commending his 
subordinates, constantly under fire, cool, energetic, and 
making unwearied exertions to maintain his position. 
At times he was vigorously engaged in sending desert- 
ers back to their regiments, and in organizing tempo- 
rarily the numerous fugitives who crowded to the river 
with exa^crerated stories of disaster. He sent accain 
and again for Buell's advance to hurry forward, and 
for Lewis Wallace to hasten from Crump's Landing. 
But Buell's advance, slow to move, was yet a long way 
off, and Wallace strangely mistook the road, and did 
not arrive. Confident that with these reinforcements 
he could defeat the enemy, Grant held on with a 
tenacity which alone saved the day. The Union line 
was forced back more than a mile, but it was nowhere 
pierced. The enemy made desperate attacks ; but the 
Union troops, encouraged by such officers as Grant 
and Sherman, fought like veterans, although many 
were new levies, and showed the dogged obstinacy 
which their commander seemed to inspire. The last 
desperate attacks upon the left of the Union line were 
met with such firmness, that the rebels were repeatedly 
thrown back until exhausted. At this time Buell's 
advance, under General Nelson, arrived, and some of 



No Idea of Retreat. 47 

his regiments were placed in position ; but the enemy 
made only a feeble renewal of their efforts. The day 
had been saved by Grants obstinate resistance, and 
not by the arrival of BuclVs troops. 

But all day, while the battle raged, the banks of the 
river had been crowded with stragglers from the front, 
some slightly wounded, some never in the battle, but 
all full of stories of surprise, overwhelming forces, ter- 
rible disasters, horrible slaughter, and all the exaggera- 
tions of men unused to battle, and of cowards who 
deserted their posts. Seen from the rear, it looked as 
if the contest was resulting in utter and irreparable 
defeat ; and colored by these unworthy and untrue re- 
ports, the country was made to see the first day's battle 
at Shiloh as a disaster, which was only saved from 
utter completeness by Buell's arrival. Buell himself, 
w r ho arrived in advance of his troops, apparently took 
a similar view, and as soon as he met Grant inquired, 
" What preparations have you made for retreating, 
general ? r But he w^as quickly interrupted by Grant, 
who exclaimed, with firmness, " / haven't despaired of 
whipping them yet ! ' He knew how the brave men 
at the front were resisting the enemy, and he knew 
that if he held out through that day, the victory 
could be won the next, and so he never thought of 
retreat. Such was his determined spirit in all his 
campaigns, and in all his battles. 

After the battle, it is said — though the anecdote is not 
so authentic as the above statement — that Buell, in crit- 
icising the position of Grant's army, with the Tennessee 
in their rear, again recurred to the question of retreat, 
and asked, "Where would you have retreated, general, 
if beaten?" 



48 Life of General Grant. 

f I didn't intend to be beaten," was Grant's reply. 

!r But suppose, in spite of all your efforts, you had 
been defeated? " 

"Well, there were the transports." 

" But all your transports would not carry more than 
ten thousand men, and you had forty thousand." 

"Well," replied Grant, "they would have been suffi- 
cient for' all that would have been left of us." 

As soon as the rebels showed signs of exhaustion in 
their last efforts against his left, Grant was giving 
orders to assume the offensive on the morrow. He 
believed that, as at Fort Donelson, the condition of 
either side was such that the party first attacking would 
be successful. He would then have at least one division 
of Buell's army, and Wallace's division, to strengthen 
him, and he was confident of success. His preparations 
were made promptly and decisively. His shattered 
brigades were reorganized, strairirlers were returned to 
their places, and ample supplies brought up. Buell's 
arm} r , as it arrived, was placed in position on the left, 
and Wallace's division on the right, and by early 
morning the new line was formed. Grant gave his 
orders personally to each division commander, and 
after completing his plans, he lay down on the ground, 
with the stump of a tree for a pillow, and slept soundly 
in spite of the raging storm. The attack was made 
this time by the Union troops, and the rebels were 
beaten back. The battle was severe, though not so 
fierce as on the previous day. The rebels retired 
slowly, but were at last driven from the field, and re- 
treated rapidly towards Corinth. Grant's plans were 
carried out, and he was ever active on the field in 



Leads the Final Charge at Siiiloii. 49 

directing new movements. Seeing a portion of his line, 
in front of an important position, struggling unsuccess- 
fully and about to give way, he ordered up an Ohio 
regiment, which was passing not far distant, and him- 
self led them to support the wavering troops. Rec- 
ognizing their general, these men charged with great 
enthusiasm, while he shared their exposure, and en- 
couraged them with his presence. The wavering troops 
also recognized him, and closing up their ranks, they 
joined, with loud cheers, in the charge, which drove 
the enemy from their position, and achieved the final 
success of the contest. 

Jealousy and ignorance would again have deprived 
G^ant of the honor of victory. He was supposed to 
have been hopelessly defeated the first day, and the 
success of the second day was supposed to be due to 
Buell and his army. But neither was true, as all 
official records, of both the Union and rebel forces, and 
the testimony of unprejudiced soldiers, show. More- 
over, had the army of General Buell been as ready to 
endure and persist as were General Grant's own troops, 
the victory would have been more complete. But Bu- 
ell's officers considered their men too much exhausted 
to pursue the routed foe ; and the real victory, which 
Grant desired to achieve, was thus lost. But what was 
accomplished is due to the ability and persistency of 
Grant. 

General Halleck, seeing his subordinates winning 
the laurels of the war, grew somewhat restive ; and 
having formed a grand strategical plan of the campaign, 
desired naturally to assume command of his forces in 
the field. He did so, and superseded Grant, who, 

4 



50 Life of General Grant. 

though nominally second in command, was practically 
ignored, and placed in a very awkward and unpleasant 
position. The misrepresentations of jealousy and igno- 
rance had their effect upon Halleck, and he seemed to 
believe that Grant had hopelessly failed at Shiloh.* 
The latter was not consulted, and order^ were issued 
b} 7 Halleck direct to the corps commanders, instead of 
being sent through Grant. The spade and pick were 
now brought into requisition, as if in contrast to the 
only omission of Grant in taking position at Pittsburg 
Landing. For weeks the grand army under Halleck 
was throwing up breastworks, advancing a short dis- 
tance and again throwing up breastworks, till it had 
dug its way almost into Corinth, advancing fifteen miles 
in six weeks. The rebels meanwhile were equally 
busy in erecting defences at Corinth. 

To some able officers, and among them General 
Grant, it appeared that there was a surer and quicker 
way of carrying the rebel position, and defeating the 
rebel army before it escaped. But when Grant ventured 
to suggest it, Halleck scouted it in an insulting manner. 
Grant had hitherto borne his disagreeable position with 
patience and entire subordination, as became a good 
soldier and a patriotic, unselfish man, trusting that time 
would bring all things right. But this indignity was 
almost past bearing. He felt it keenly, and was much 
depressed ; but he showed no insubordination, made no 
complaints, and sought no S} T mpathy from his fellow - 

* General Badeau's excellent work, "The Military History of 
Ulysses S. Grant," throws new light on this battle, and shows, by 
official documents and the testimony of General Sherman and others, 
that Grant not only did not fail, but that he was entitled to the 
highest honor for his ability and persistency. 



. An Appreciative Friend. 51 

officers, which might have affected the efficiency of 
the army. He simply remarked to his chief of staff 
that Halleck had deeply wronged him. 

One day General Sherman bolted into Grant's tent, 
and found him suffering under his sense of wrong. 
He inquired the cause of this unusual manifestation of 
feeling. Grant then, for the first time, spoke at length 
of his position, and the indignities he had suffered, and 
concluded by saying, "The truth is, I am not wanted 
here. The country has no further use for me, and I 
am about to resign and go home." 

:? No, you are not ! " replied Sherman, in his nervous 
and impatient manner; 'you are going to do nothing 
of the sort. The country has further need of you, and 
you must stay here and do your duty, in spite of these 
petty insults." 

Sherman's earnest manner, generous sympathy, and 
cheering words prevailed with Grant, and encouraged 
him to stay. Fortunate was it for the country, that at 
this critical moment of his career Grant had so appreci- 
ative, true, and outspoken a friend. 

When Corinth was evacuated by the rebels, and 
entered by the Union troops after their six weeks of 
fruitless toil, it was apparent that Grant's plan would 
have secured the capture not only of Corinth, but the 
greater part of the rebel army. The inefficient pursuit 
which followed, under the direction of Buell, assumed 
the form of seventy thousand men acting on the defen- 
sive, against twenty thousand rebels retreating from 
them ! This barren issue of the :r siege of Corinth ' : 
served to distract attention from the alleged mistakes 
of Shiloh, and Grant was no longer subject to the 



52 Life of General Grant. 

calumnies which had been heaped upon his capacity 
as a general, and his habits as a man. 

Halleck was soon after called to Washington as 
general-in-chief, and Grant resumed his former com- 
mand ; not, however, till Halleck had offered it to 
Colonel Robert Allen, a quartermaster, who had the 
good sense to decline it. Buell's army had already 
gone towards Chattanooga, and Grant's army was still 
further depleted by the departure of four divisions to 
reenforce the former. Grant was, therefore, compelled 
to act entirely on the defensive, an irksome duty for 
him ; and his task was the difficult one of guarding 
several important points against an enemy who could 
readily concentrate at any one of them a force equal to 
his entire command. He strengthened the defences of 
Corinth, while he narrowly watched the threatening 
movements of the rebels, and proved himself active and 
prudent in a defensive campaign, though his genius 
was for offensive operations. He would have defeated 
the rebels at luka if his plans had been carried out; 
but Rosecrans, who commanded one of the columns 
moving against the enemy at that place, was slower 
than he promised to be, which caused a necessary 
detention of the other column, under Orel, and com- 
munication being difficult, the attacks were not well 
timed. The enemy effected his retreat by a road which 
Rosecrans was expressly ordered to hold, but which 
he failed to occupy. 

Afterwards the rebels, combining their forces, at- 
tacked Corinth, to which place Grant had hurried 
Rosecrans, and made other provisions for its defence. 
With the aid of the strengthened fortifications Rosecrans 



Character of his Plans. 53 

made a gallant defence, and repulsed the enemy with 
heavy loss ; but he failed to pursue the demoralized 
forces of the rebels until it was too late. Grant was 
somewhat chagrined at this, for his plans always con- 
templated the prompt following up of a success until its 
full benefits were reaped. The result, however, was 
advantageous to the Union cause, and Grant's district 
was relieved from apprehensions of a renewal of im- 
portant movements on the part of the enemy. For the 
defence of Corinth Rosecrans received deserved com- 
mendation ; but more was due to Grant than partial 
observers allowed. His were the plans by which suc- 
cess was achieved, and had they been carried out, 
would have resulted in a more complete victory. 



54 



Life of General Grant. 



CHAPTER V. 

Vicksburg.— General McClernand's Schemes. — Grant's Purposes.— 
The Lessons of a rebel Raid. — Grant and the Secession Women. 
— McClernand's Insubordination and Braggadocio. — The Diffi- 
culties of operating against Vicksburg. — Grant's Persistency and 
Resources. — The Canal, Lake Providence, and Yazoo Pass. — The 
Country impatient. — Plots to remove him. — President Lincoln's 
Reply. _The final and successful Plan. —Opposition. — Grant 
assumes the Responsibility. — Brilliant Operations. — Jackson, 
Champion Hill, and the Big Black. - The Assault on Vicksburg, 
and the Siege. — Strategy and Vigor. — Vicksburg reduced. — 
Grant's Interview with Pemberton. — " Unconditional Surrender" 
aeain. —Thirty thousand Prisoners, and one hundred and seventy- 
two Cannon. — The public Joy. — President Lincoln's Letter.— 
General llalleck's Acknowledgment. — Grant's modest Dignity, 
and the sullen Discourtesy of Rebels. — Grant's Confidence of 
Success. — 1 1 is Persistency dashes the Hopes of a rebel Woman. — 
1 lis unwearying Labors and Efforts. — Care for his Troops. — His 
\\ ell-earned Reputation. 

VICKSBURG, which will be forever associated with 
the name of Grant, was the scene of achievements 
which confirmed him in the estimation of his country- 
men, and established his reputation as a general above 
the reach of the detractions of jealousy and misrepresen- 
tation. While Grant was engaged in defending his 
district of West Tennessee from the threatened invasion 
of the superior forces of the enemy, McClernand, who 
had been his subordinate, and was one of the political 
appointments which he had deprecated, was in Wash- 



Grant and McClernand. 55 

ington, endeavoring to obtain an independent command. 
It was very desirable that the Mississippi River should 
be opened its entire length. The Union forces had 
opened it to Memphis and below, but at Vicksburg the 
rebels liad strong fortifications, and entirely commanded 
the river between that place and Port Hudson, thus 
maintaining their communications between the west 
and the east, and drawing large supplies from Louisiana 
and Texas. McClernand proposed to open this part 
of the river, and persuaded President Lincoln to author- 
ize him to organize a force of the new troops from the 
west' for that purpose. He imagined himself fully 
equal to the undertaking, talked boastfully, claimed 
the expedition as his original conception, and desired 
the sole command, with the idea that he should have 
the sole honor of its success. General Halleck, how- 
ever, and others, had no such exalted opinion of 
McClernand's abilities as an officer, and he was allowed 
to organize the expedition subject to General Grant's 
direction. Halleck seemed to have more faith in Grant 
than formerly, or at least placed him far above 
McClernand as a soldier. He atoned for his former 
injustice by allowing Grant great freedom of action, 
and heartily aiding him in all his plans. 

But McClernand had no patent right to such a move- 
ment. It had formed a part of Halleck's grand plan 
of operations when he was commander of the Western 
Department ; and Grant had long ago had his e-ye on 
Vicksburg as an objective, towards which he would 
have advanced had his forces been sufficient. Before 
McClernand got ready to take command of his expedi- 
tion, Grant sent Sherman, with all the troops collected 



56 Life of General Grant. 

at Memphis, except a sufficient garrison, down the 
river to commence operations, and entered earnestly 
into the movement which was to be under his general 
direction. 

As McClernand's new levies arrived, they were sent 
to the same destination. Grant at the same time pene- 
trated Mississippi, with the view of cooperating in the 
rear of Vicksburg. But his forces, though he had ac- 
complished much, were insufficient to hold his long 
line of railroad communication, and still make advances. 
The rebels were wary, and, avoiding battle, suddenly 
cut his communications, and destroyed a large quantity 
of supplies, and he was obliged to fall back ; while 
Sherman made an unsuccessful attack on the rebel 
position on the Yazoo. But the cutting of his com- 
munications taught Grant to subsist his army on the 
enemy's country. The rebels were rejoicing over this 
disaster to the Union cause, which they exaggerated, 
and fancied that the national troops must either starve 
where they were, or retreat, demoralized and beaten, 
an easy prey for Forrest's active cavalry. 

Some rebel women came one day to Grant's head- 
quarters, smiling with exultation at the news they had 
heard. They thought to taunt him, " in a genteel way," 
with his loss, and, as they supposed, his hopeless 
condition. 

" What will you do, general," asked one, " now that 
you have lost Holly Springs, and your soldiers will 
have nothing to eat ? " 

The general noticed, without appearing to, the 
glances exchanged by his visitors, and the taunting 
tone, which was but half concealed, and he quickly 
replied, — 



Living on the Enemy's Country. 57 

" My soldiers will find plenty to eat in your barns 
and storehouses." 

The exultant smiles of his visitors were quickly 
changed to looks of astonishment and alarm. 

" You would not rob us ! You would not take from 
non-combatants ! " they cried. 

'* A commander's first duty is to provide for his 
troops," replied the general, blandly. "Your friends 
destroyed my supplies, and I must take others wherever 
they may be found." 

Remonstrances could not prevail, nor indignant 
protests, nor harmless threats, nor angry tears. The 
troops must be fed, and the orders were given to seize 
all necessary supplies. Grant was now convinced, if 
he had not been at an earlier stage of the war, that the 
rebels, who wickedly began the rebellion, and prose- 
cuted it with such obstinacy, hatred, and cruelty, should 
be made to feel the rigors of war, and that treacher- 
ous and malignant non-combatants — those innocents 
whose "sufferings" Franklin Pierce bewailed — should 
not be spared. So the country was stripped, and the 
army was fed. The rebels paid dearly for this raid 
on Grant's communications, not only there, but through- 
out the South wherever the Union armies marched, for 
the lesson which he then learned was afterwards 
thoroughly and justly practised. 

When McClernand took command, he not only 
lacked the confidence of experienced soldiers, but he 
manifested insubordination, with overweening conceit 
criticised the orders of his superior, claimed the expedi- 
tion as his own, and sought to establish his indepen- 
dence of Grant. His conduct was so offensive, and so 



58 Life of General Grant. 

endangered the success of the movement, that Grant 
was authorized to name another commander, or to 
assume the command himself. To avoid unpleasant 
results, which might have arisen from superseding 
McClernand by Sherman, to whom he wished to give 
the command, he assumed it himself, and retained 
McClernand in command of his own corps. But the lat- 
ter, while not a very efficient officer, was still insubor- 
dinate and troublesome, boastful and obnoxious to his 
fellow-officers. Finally his spirit of braggadocio led him 
to exaggerate what he was doing during one of the fierce 
assaults in the rear of Vicksburg, to claim successes 
which he had not gained, and to ask for support which 
involved an unnecessary sacrifice of life. And to crown 
this, he published a bombastic address to his corps, in 
which he recounted all its gallant deeds to his own 
glory, and the disparagement of other corps and com- 
manders. This unsoldierly conduct justly incensed 
other officers, and McClernand was at once relieved 
of his command, which he had obtained through 
political influence, and in the exercise of which the 
good of the country was made subordinate to his own 
glorification. But for Grant's patience and forbear- 
ance, he would have been sooner relieved for other 
reasons. 

The movement against Vicksburg was one of the 
greatest importance. Its object was to open the Mis- 
sissippi, in order not only to secure that majestic line of 
communication with the sea, and with the Union forces 
at its mouth, but to divide the rebel confederacy in 
twain, and to cut off the rebel armies in the east from 
one of their chief sources of supply. It was a move- 



Vicksburg — A Difficult Problem. 59 

ment full of difficulties, for it was a position of great 
natural strength, affording no vantage-ground for an 
attack, and it had been industriously fortified. The 
rebels knew its importance to them, and they spared 
no pains to make it secure. At the first indications of 
a movement against it, they extended and strengthened 
its defences, and concentrated their forces so as to be 
able to present, at any point of attack, numbers at least 
equal to the assailants. 

General Grant believed from the first that the only 
way of capturing Vicksburg was by an attack in the 
rear, or a siege. Such had been his plans before the 
expedition down the river had been determined upon ; 
and when his communications were cut, had he known 
what he then learned by experience, and what was then 
first tried by any considerable force, — that he could sub- 
sist an army on the enemy's country,. — he would have 
moved promptly on Vicksburg. But the river expedi- 
tion was now the favorite one with the government, 
and at this time, perhaps, the most advantageous one, 
and he bent all his energies to secure its success, aim- 
ing still to get to the rear of the rebel position. It was 
impossible to carry the enemy's works in front, or on 
their flank, an attack at the only practicable point, on 
the Yazoo, having already failed ; and it was equally 
impossible to pass the rebel batteries on the river with 
a sufficient number of transports and gunboats in order 
to flank them on the south. The problem was, there- 
fore, somewhat difficult in theory as well as in practice. 

The year previous, a Union force, under the command 
of General Williams, had been sent up from New 
Orleans by General Butler, with a part of Admiral 



60 J fe of General Grant. 

Farragut's fleet, and being unable to pass Vicksburg, 
had commenced cutting a canal across the neck of land 
formed by the bend in the river opposite Vicksburg, 
with the view of turning the waters t)f the Mississippi, 
and securing a safe passage, while leaving Vicksburg 
some miles inland. Without being too confident of 
success, Grant ordered this work to be completed on a 
larger scale and in a more effective manner. He always 
felt that it was essential to keep his men actively em- 
ployed ; and even if this canal did not enable the fleet 
to pass down below Vicksburg, it occupied the attention 
and encouraged the hopes of the troops. The work 
was pushed forward with vigor; but it took months to 
bring it near completion, and then a rapid rise in the 
river broke through the embankment of the canal and 
overflowed the country, and the work did not answer 
its purpose. 

But Grant had not been idly awaiting the result of 
this experiment. He was busy in seeking other prac- 
ticable routes by which he could reach the position he 
desired. As soon as he took command, he gave orders 
for cutting a way from the Mississippi to Lake Provi- 
dence on the west, from which it was hoped steamers 
might pass into the Tensas, and thence into the Red 
River, and a passage thus be opened for communication 
with Banks, who was to cooperate from New Orleans 
in the opening of the river. At about the same time 
he sent an expedition to explore on the eastern side of 
the Mississippi, and to open, if possible, a practicable 
passage through Yazoo Pass and Steele's Bayou. At 
one time the latter route promised to be practicable, 
and to enable Grant to flank the rebel works on the 



President Lincoln sustains him. 6i 

Yazoo, and reach the high land in the rear of Vicks- 
burg. But unexpected obstacles, natural and artificial, 
were encountered ; and though the novel and remark- 
able movement was prosecuted with vigor, and caused 
serious loss and alarm to the rebels, it was found at 
last to be unavailing. 

While Grant was making all these efforts to solve 
the problem before him, the country, ignorant of the 
difficulties and the measures taken to overcome them, 
became impatient There was a clamor for his re- 
moval, prompted in part by jealousy, and in part by 
ignorance and impatience. This feeling at Wash- 
ington, and at the North, suggested all sorts of rumors 
.and misrepresentations about Grant, the condition of 
his troops, and everything which could affect his 
character as a general; Great efforts were consequently 
made to remove him ; and among those who were 
using every exertion to accomplish this was General 
McClernand, who desired and expected to have the 
command himself. How much of the misrepresentation 
of Grant and his efforts is due to that scheming sub- 
ordinate and his friends, may be imagined. He would 
probably have succeeded but for the good will and 
firmness of President Lincoln, who even then believed 
in Grant. To one of those who urged Grant's removal 
the President said, decidedly, "I rather like the man. 
I think we'll try him a little longer." Secretary Stanton, 
too, " rather liked the man," and he was not removed 
to give place to incompetency and bombast. Amid all 
this clamor and misrepresentation, Grant patiently and 
earnestly discharged his duties, seeking success against 
the enemy for the sake of the country, rather than 



62 Life of General Grant. 

wasting efforts for the sake of himself. So through his 
whole career, while there was an enemy of his country 
in his front, he did not turn back to fight his personal 
enemies in the rear. And never did he undertake to 
defend himself against the misrepresentations and plots 
of unscrupulous men, until in himself the safety and 
welfare of the country were assailed, and the fruits of 
all his victories were endangered. 

But Grant's resources were not exhausted. He had 
yet another plan, to which, from the beginning, he had 
anticipated he might resort when the waters had 
sufficiently subsided. This was to move his army, 
which was now large and well organized, partly by 
water through the bavous on the west side of the river, 
and partly by a wagon road to New Carthage, and 
thence across the Mississippi below Warrenton, or to a 
point still farther down the river, and thence across to 
Grand Gulf. Admiral (then Commodore) Porter at 
the same time was to run by the rebel batteries with 
several of his gunboats, and some transports laden with 
supplies. These gunboats and transports, with such 
small steamers as could pass through the bayous, were 
to transport the troops across the river, and a move- 
ment was then to be made to the rear of Vicksburg. 
To this movement Grant's most trusted and able 
officers, such asSherman and McPherson, were strongly 
opposed, as dangerous in the extreme. The army, 
they represented, would abandon its base of supplies, 
and would be entirely cut off from the North and all aid 
in case of any failure ; and if not entirely successful, for 
which the chances were far from equal, the movement 
would be disastrous. But Grant had weighed the sub- 



Brilliant Movements. 63 

ject well, was confident of success, and quietly assum- 
ing the responsibility, without holding any council of 
war, adhered to his plan, and issued orders for its 
execution. 

The movement was successfully made, and attended 
with the most brilliant results. The gunboats, and 
most of the transports, passed the batteries at night 
without serious damage ; the troops moved promptly, 
under Grant's personal direction, and soon reached 
New Carthage. There, however, there was a delay 
on account of McClernand's inefficiency, and Com- 
modore Porter was constrained to urge the immediate 
presence of Grant at the front. Further examination 
showing that it was advisable, in consequence of 
McClernand's delay, to cross the Mississippi at a point 
below Grand Gulf, which was strongly fortified, General 
Grant, upon assuming immediate command, moved 
down from New Carthage to a point opposite Bruins- 
burg. There the troops were transported across the 
river by the steamers and gunboats, and established 
themselves on the Mississippi side, and compelled the 
evacuation of Grand Gulf. Then Grant, sending his 
pithy despatch, " You may not hear from me again for 
several days," cut loose from his base, and commenced 
his brilliant campaign. With skilful movements, which 
deceived the enemy, he marched'to Jackson, skirmished, 
fought battles, captured Jackson, the capital of Mis- 
sissippi, and then rapidly marched back to the rear of 
Vicksburg, defeating the rebels at Champion Hill and 
the Bip- Black, and driving them at last within the 
defences of their stronghold. The rebel forces were 
driven in dismay from Jackson, and their supplies 



64 Life of General Grant. 

captured and destroyed; and as the army moved 
towards Vicksburg, the country was laid waste, and 
the railroad destroyed, so as to prevent or impede any 
rebel movement for the relief of Vicksburg. 

It was one of the most successful and brilliant opera- 
tions of modern warfare, and reflected the highest credit 
on Grant's military capacity. It was the conception of 
military genius, and was carried through by that confi- 
dence which is inspired by genius. Grant's army was 
now placed where he desired it — in front of the enemy, 
who w r as thus cut off from reinforcements and supplies. 
Another brilliant move and gallant contest, and com- 
munication was opened with the Mississippi above 
Vicksburg, and a base of supplies established. Grant 
was not disposed to commence the slow operations of a 
regular siege until he had attempted to carry the 
enemy's works by assault. He was especially induced 
to do this because of the danger of a movement upon 
his rear if he waited too long, believing the importance 
of Vicksburg to the rebels might lead them even to 
abandon other points, in order to concentrate a large 
army for its relief. But finding that the rebel works 
were too strong to be carried by assault, he commenced 
regular siege operations, guarding, by a strong force 
in his rear, against the advance of Johnston, who was 
collecting all the troops he could for the relief of the be- 
leaguered city. The operations of this force in the rear, 
under the immediate command of Sherman, were 
brilliant and effectual. The country, for a great dis- 
tance, was stripped of supplies, and every important 
point was guarded, so that Johnston was unable to make 
any successful movement. The siege operations, in the 



Interview with Pemberton. 65 

mean time, progressed with vigor. By the disposition 
of Grant's forces, and the activity of the gunboats 
on the river, Vicksburg was completely cut off from 
supplies and reinforcements. The Union army slowly 
but surely advanced, siege guns were mounted, and 
the rebel fortifications and the city were continually 
shelled. The approaches at last reached the enemy's 
lines ; one or two important rebel works were mined, 
assaulted, and captured, and the rebels, reduced to 
quarter rations, harassed and worn out by fatigues, at 
last, in despair, were obliged to yield. 

On the 3d of July, Pemberton, the rebel commander, 
proposed an armistice and the appointment of com- 
missioners to arrange for capitulation, in order "to save 
the further effusion of blood." Grant declined to ap- 
point commissioners, and informed Pemberton that he 
could stop the further effusion of blood " by an uncon- 
ditional surrender of the city and garrison," and that 
he could offer no other terms. An interview subse- 
quently took place between the two commanders in 
front of the lines. 

When they met, Pemberton inquired, somewhat 
abruptly, what terms would be allowed him. 

" The terms named in my letter of this morning," 
replied Grant. 

' x If that is all," declared Pemberton, haughtily, "then 
this conference may as well terminate, and hostilities 
be resumed at once." 

"Very well," said Grant, quietly ; and he turned 
away, knowing that the enemy would soon be at his 
mercy. 

But Bowen, Pemberton's subordinate, proposed that 

5 - 



66 Life of General Grant. 

he and General Smith, who accompanied Grant, should 
confer together on terms, and report to their superiors. 
While those two officers conferred together, Grant and 
Pemberton paced to and fro, conversing. Pemberton, 
nervous and dispirited, though insolent in manner, 
plucked straws to gnash his teeth upon ; while Grant, 
quiet, imperturbable, and firm, calmly smoked his 
cigar, and as calmly spoke, taking no notice of his 
opponent's ill temper. 

The terms proposed by Bowen were so utterly inad- 
missible as to elicit a smile from Grant, who promptly 
rejected them, and promised to send his ultimatum in 
writing, and the conference ended. Grant summoned 
a council of war, the only one he ever called, and 
asked the opinions of his officers. Always self-reliant, 
and ready to assume his proper responsibility, he 
evidently did not believe that in war there was safety in 
a multitude of counsel. In this case none of the terms 
proposed by his subordinates met with his approbation ; 
but without any discussion he immediately dictated his 
own terms, which were in the main simply such as had 
been arranged bv a cartel between the national and 
rebel authorities. The rebels were compelled to accept 
them or fare worse ; p.nd that was the position in which 
Grant alwavs aimed to place the enemy. 

On the 4th of July, Vicksburg, with its hundred and 
seventy cannon, and its thirty thousand rebel troops,* 
was -formally surrendered, and a portion of the vic- 
torious army entered the city. The Mississippi was 
opened, for Port Hudson was immediately surrendered, 

* One hundred and seventy-two cannon and thirty-one thousand 
six hundred men. 



Letter from President Lincoln. 67 

as a consequence of the capture of Vicksburg, and the 
long-desired and important object of this campaign was 
attained : the Father of Waters rolled " unvexed to the 
sea." The joyful news was flashed by telegraph 
through the country, and, added to the victory at Get- 
tysburg, made that birthday of the country triply glori- 
ous and happy for the loyal people. The popular 
gratitude to Grant was freely expressed, and he was 
now recognized, by people, government, and soldiers, 
as, beyond all question, an able general, who, by 
brilliant movements, as well as indomitable energy, 
had secured victory unsurpassed in magnitude and im- 
portance by any hitherto achieved. President Lincoln, 
who had watched the progress of the operations against 
Vicksburg with the deepest interest, in a letter char- 
acterized by the honest frankness which was one of his 
prominent traits, wrote to Grant, — 

" My dear General : I do not remember that } t ou 
and I ever met personally. I write this now as a grate- 
ful acknowledgment for the almost inestimable service 
you have done the country. I wish to say one word 
further. When you first reached the vicinity of Vicks- 
burg, I thought you should do what you finally did 
— march the troops across the neck, run the batteries 
with the transports, and thus go below ; and I never 
had any faith, except a general hope that you knew 
better than I, that the Yazoo expedition, and the like, 
could succeed. When you got below, and took Port 
Gibson, Grand Gulf, and vicinity, I thought you should 
go down the river and join General Banks ; and when 
you turned northward, east of the Big Black, I thought 



68 Life of General Grant. 

it was a mistake. I now wish to make the personal 
acknowledgment that you were right, and I was wrong." 

Other men, soldiers and civilians, ignorant of the 
difficulties and obstacles to be encountered, had made 
plans for taking Vicksburg, but few were so frank as 
President Lincoln, who, from that hour, had the fullest 
confidence in Grant, and gave him his hearty support. 

General Halleck, who had been so slow to acknowl- 
edge Grant's ability, but who was thoroughly com- 
petent to judge of the merits of a campaign accom- 
plished, wrote, : Your narrative of the campaign, like 
the operations themselves, is brief, soldierly, and in 
every respect creditable and satisfactory. In boldness 
of plan, rapidity of execution, and brilliancy of routes, 
these operations will compare most favorably with those 
of Napoleon about Ulm." 

When, on the 4th of July, Grant rode into the cap- 
tured city, it was without any ostentatious parade, or 
any exhibition of triumph. The rebel soldiers stared 
at him curiously, as if they wondered how so unpre- 
tending a man could be a great general. Stopping at 
Pemberton's headquarters, he dismounted, and alone 
entered the porch of the house, neither guard nor 
officer receiving him. There sat Pemberton and his 
rebel officers, occupying all the seats ; but, though 
they recognized him, not one of these polished scions 
of chivalry had the grace to offer him a chair, nor to 
give him a glass of cold water when he asked for it. 
It was, however, a sullen incivility and exhibition of 
bad temper, which had little effect on Grant. Though 
he wore no air of haughty triumph, he was conscious 



His Confidence. 69 

of his victory; but he could pardon something tb 
chagrin and wounded vanity ; and while the vanquished 
Pemberton and his fellows continued sitting, the victor 
stood, quietly and courteously talking, till his business 
with the rebel chief was finished. 

Through all the long campaign against Vicksburg, 
Grant had felt sure of ultimate success. His greatest 
anxiety — which, even then, did not amount to a 
doubt — was when he was contending against un- 
numbered difficulties and obstacles in his efforts to 
reach the enemy, and the country was becoming im- 
patient at the tedious delays. But when he found that 
his long-contemplated movement could be made, he 
was no longer anxious, except to get his troops forward. 
He never doubted the result; he was confident of 
victory. His confidence then, as in all his campaigns, 
amounted almost to fatalism ; but it was a confidence 
born not of blind egotism, or a superstitious belief in 
inevitable destiny, but of indefatigable effort and un- 
yielding tenacity of purpose. When Sherman and 
McPherson advised against the movement, he was too 
confident to listen to their fears. When McClernand's 
inefficiency gave the rebels time to baffle his first plans, 
his confidence was not abated ; but changing the 
details, he was never doubtful of reaching the end he 
aimed at. An incident during the siege illustrates the 
same confidence, and reveals its character. 

As he was one day riding around his lines, he 
stopped for water at a house in which, notwithstanding 
its exposure, a rebel woman continued to live. Like 
most of her class, she was a bitter hater of the Yankees, 
and a thorough believer in the chivalry. Learning 



70 Life of General Grant. 

who Grant was, she thought she would taunt him by 
asking, — 

" Do you expect ever to get into Vicksburg, general?" 

f Certainly," replied the general, quietly but deci- 
dedly. 

X I wonder when!" said the dame, with an evident 
sneer. 

f I cannot tell exactly when I shall take the town," 
said the general, with a little more decision than before ; 
* but I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes me thirty 
years." 

The woman subsided. Such Yankee persistency 
and confidence dashed her spirits and her hopes. But 
she saw the general's promise kept without waiting 
thirty years. 

While Grant was thus confident of the result from 
his tenacity of purpose, he labored indefatigably to 
secure it. Cautious, vigilant, active, his orders to his 
subordinates were promptly and explicitly given ; and 
when fairly in the field, every considerable movement 
contributed to secure the object in view. The experi- 
ence of the campaign developed his military genius, 
and proved him a great general in his ability to move 
and feed troops, as well as in the grand tactics of the 
field. His army was prompt and rapid in its move- 
ments, and always well supplied ; and he attended so 
closely to the details of these matters, that, without the 
slightest effort or desire to make himself popular, he 
secured the attachment of his men. But he did not 
content himself with simply seeing that they were 
furnished with supplies ; he looked well after the 
wounded and sick, and protected all against the ex- 



A Solid Reputation. 71 

tortions of sutlers and steamboat captains, and other 
classes of vampyres that followed the army. Plain, 
quiet, and unassuming, but self-reliant, brave, and 
cool in the midst of danger, he was just the man to 
inspire the confidence, if not the enthusiasm, of the army 
under his command. He had thus, at the close of this 
brilliant campaign, established with the government, 
in the army, and before the world, a reputation as a 
general more solid than that of any other officer in the 
country. 



72 Life of General Grant. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Appointed Major General in the regular Army. — His military Gen- 
ius developed by the War. — His comprehensive Ideas of the Re- 
bellion. — A true Representation of the Policy of the Government. 

— A Believer in Emancipation. — An Opponent of Trade with the 
Rebels. — Speculators and illegal Traders at a Discount. — Recog- 
nized as a great Leader and " the Coming Man." — Grant's Plans 
after the Capture of Vicksburg. — The Necessity of postponing 
them. — Visits New Orleans. — Accident and Injury. — Critical 
Position of Rosecrans. — Grant called to Cairo. — Meets Secretary 
Stanton. — New and important Command. — Confidence of the 
Government. — Assumes Command. — Affairs at Chattanooga. — 
Grant's prompt and energetic Preparations. — Journey to Chatta- 
nooga. — Triumph of Will over physical Weakness and Difficulties. 

— Extent of his Command. — Energy and Administrative Ability. 

— Chattanooga relieved, and the Army encouraged. — Burnside. 

— Grant's Purpose to attack Bragg. — Impatient of Delays. — The 
Battle of Chattanooga. — Fought directly under Grant's Orders. — 
I lis Headquarters. — The Crisis and the Charge. — Grant's Confi- 
dence. — " They'll do it." — The Victory. — Grant at the Front. — 
His Watchfulness. — Complete Defeat of the Enemy. — Pursuit. — 
"One of the most remarkable Battles in History." — Recognition 
of Grant's Services. — Modesty of the great Republican Soldier. 

SOON after the capture of Vicksburg, and in rec- 
ognition of his distinguished services, Grant was 
appointed a Major General in the regular army, his 
commissions hitherto having been in the volunteers. 
With his characteristic generous regard for his subor- 
dinates, he recommended many of them for promotion ; 
and Sherman and McPherson were, at his request, ap- 
pointed brigadier generals in the regular army. All 



His Ideas of the Rebellion. 73 

Grant's promotions had been won by merit and eminent 
services. He had risen in rank without personal or 
political influence, and in spite of the opposition and 
prejudices of men whose opinions essentially controlled 
the government. 

The war had gradually developed his military ca- 
pacity, and he had grown in his abilities with each 
new difficulty and each new campaign. Already the 
most successful and the ablest general in the Union 
army, in the coming campaigns he was destined to 
surpass himself, and to secure still more the gratitude 
and admiration of his country and the respect of all 
the world. 

General Grant had grown not only in military ca- 
pacity, but he had grown more comprehensive in his 
ideas of the rebellion. In all the army the govern- 
ment had no better representative of its policy. For 
Grant had always shown the most exact subordina- 
tion, and declared his purpose to be, to carry out in 
all cases the orders of his superiors. He had learned 
what the rebellion was, and he had learned that it was 
necessary to deal with it with the utmost rigor. Never 
having been an abolitionist, he yet had learned that 
slavery was the cause, the object, and the strength of 
the rebellion, and he not only felt no scruples in strik- 
ing it down, but earnestly carried out the emancipation 
policy. He did not hesitate to avow, still more decid- 
edly than by passive obedience to orders, his sentiments 
on this subject, and in a letter to some loyal men of 
Memphis, who tendered him a public reception in 1863, 
he wrote, "I thank you, too, in the name of the noble 
army which I have the honor to command. It is com- 



74 Life of General Grant. 

posed of men whose loyalty is proved by their deeds 
of heroism and their willing sacrifices of life and 
health. They will rejoice with me that the miserable 
adherents of the rebellion, whom their bayonets have 
driven from this fair land, are being replaced by men 
zuho acknowledge human liberty as the only true foun- 
dation of human government" 

When the policy of enlisting negroes in the army 
was adopted by the government, he gave it his hearty 
support, and he was not slow to acknowledge the 
bravery and discipline of the colored troops, nor to 
secure to them the full rights of soldiers. 

lie gave his hearty concurrence and his ready obe- 
dience to all orders and every policy which was calcu- 
lated to weaken or break down the rebellion. But to 
such orders as he believed would indirectly aid and 
strengthen the enemy, he frankly presented his objec- 
tions ; and thus he urged cogent reasons against the 
policy of opening trade with the rebels for the sake of 
cotton, though he declared, what was always his rule 
of action, "No theory of my own will ever stand in 
the way of executing in good faith any order I may 
receive from those in authority over me." 

Speculators seeking profit from indirect trade with 
the enemy found no favor at his hands, but were per- 
sistently excluded from his lines. It is related that he 
once even kicked out of his tent one of this class who 
had the audacity to attempt to bribe him by the offer 
of a share of the profits of such illicit trade. This 
scrupulous integrity and devotion to the cause un- 
doubtedly made him enemies, who disparaged and 
calumniated him ; but it proved him all the more 



The Man for the Crisis. 75 

worthy of the love and respect of the people, and 
stamped him as an incorruptible patriot, to whom the 
highest trusts may be safely committed. 

Grant was in truth the legitimate and complete product 
of the war, and after his triumph at Vicksburg began 
to be regarded as the man for the crisis. Hitherto the 
country had looked in vain for the great leader who 
should conduct to victory the grand army of men and 
the grand power of ideas furnished by the loyal North. 
One more campaign, another growth of power, another 
manifestation of military genius, another victory, and 
the government and people alike were ready to hail 
Ulysses S. Grant as the great captain raised up by 
Providence to be the deliverer of his country. 

After the capture of Vicksburg, and the complete 
accomplishment of the purpose of the campaign, Grant 
suggested to the government an expedition against 
Mobile. He desired that his success should be 
promptly followed up by vigorous movements which 
should weaken and dispirit the rebels, and he con- 
sidered Mobile as the next most important point of 
attack in the south-west, and at that time not very dif- 
ficult to capture. His suggestions were no longer 
treated with contempt or indifference by Halleck, who 
joined him in wishing he had a sufficient force at his 
disposal to accomplish the purpose. But at this time 
England and France were meddling in the affairs of 
Mexico, and France was especially forward not only 
in crushing out Mexican republicanism, but in its 
propositions to mediate, or rather to interfere, in the 
contest between the government and the rebels. It 
was therefore deemed of much political importance 



76 Life of General Grant. 

that a strong United States force should occupy the 
line of the Rio Grande, to check any hostile movement 
which France, under false pretences, might make into 
United States territory, 'this required the forces which 
would have been used against Mobile, and for these 
reasons Grant was obliged to abandon a movement 
which he believed desirable, and which under his 
direction would probably have met with early success. 
Bat he was called to take command of more important 
operations, and to win the more splendid victory at 
Chattanooga. 

Having sent many of the troops with which he was 
temporarily reenforced back to their several depart- 
ments, and having despatched others to reenforce 
Banks, Grant went to New Orleans to confer with the 
latter general. While in that city he was thrown from 
his horse at a review and severely injured. For a long 
time he was helpless ; but he continued to direct the 
operations and movements of his command. Before 
he had recovered, he received urgent despatches from 
Halleck to send reinforcements to Rosecrans, who was 
at Chattanooga confronted by Bragg. The despatches 
to Grant were unaccountably delayed ; but as soon as 
received, with his usual promptness he hurried forward 
the reinforcements under Sherman. But in the mean 
time Rosecrans had not proved equal to the task con- 
fided to him, and having suffered a severe repulse at 
Chickamauga, was shut up in Chattanooga, short of 
supplies and closely besieged. The government then 
determined to unite all the departments between the 
Alleghanies and the Mississippi in one grand division, 
as Grant had, many months before, suggested, though 



A larger Command — Chattanooga. 77 

he had then stated that he did not desire the command. 
Now, as the most successful and distinguished general 
in the army, he was naturally selected for this new and 
extensive command. 

On his way up the Mississippi he received a despatch 
ordering him, as soon as he was able to take the field, 
to go to Cairo with his staff. Though yet very weak, 
he arrived at Cairo on the 16th of October, and imme- 
diately reported that he was ready for duty. He was at 
once ordered to Louisville, where he met the Secretary 
of War, Mr. Stanton, who brought from Washington 
the orders creating the new department and appointing 
Grant to the command. The secretary also bore other 
orders, which gave the general full power over all the 
troops in his department, with authority to conduct the 
campaign according to his own plans. The whole 
proceeding showed how much confidence the govern- 
ment reposed in Grant, and how much they expected 
of his military capacity. 

There were already rumors, unfounded, however, 
that Rosecrans was preparing to evacuate Chatta- 
nooga, a position of the utmost importance to hold ; 
and it was feared, from the posture of affairs, that, if 
not abandoned, it would be captured, and thus a still 
greater disaster would follow the repulse at Chicka- 
mauga. Grant, therefore, at the desire of the govern- 
ment, at once assumed the command and sent forward 
orders, by telegraph, to prevent the deprecated move- 
ment, and to relieve Rosecrans. 

There was need of prompt action. Rosecrans's army 
was closely besieged, and Bragg felt confident that he 
could soon starve him out and compel a surrender. 



^8 Life of General Grant. 

« 

The whole force was on half rations, and had scarcely 
ammunition enough for a single battle. Three thou- 
sand wounded soldiers lay in the camps, suffering and 
dying for the want of medical supplies. Ten thousand 
horses and mules had died for want of forage ; and even 
had a retreat been contemplated, all artillery and bag- 
gage must be abandoned. From their elevated position 
on Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge the ene- 
my was throwing shells into the town and the Union 
camps. The rebel forces, greatly increased and hold- 
ing strong and commanding positions, were contident 
that they would soon possess and maintain this impor- 
tant strategic point, while the Union troops were daily 
becoming weaker and more dispirited. 

Such was the condition of affairs when Grant as- 
sumed command. Besides the reinforcements which 
he had already ordered forward under Sherman, other 
troops were placed at his disposal, including the 
eleventh and twelfth corps from the army of the 
Potomac, under the command of General Hooker, and 
he was assured of the fullest support by the govern- 
ment. Although still lame and weak, Grant entered 
at once into the conduct of the campaign with his usual 
energy. He sent forward orders to hold Chattanooga 
at all hazards till he arrived, gave directions for Burn- 
side's operations at Knoxville, prescribed the movements 
of reinforcements, ordered forward fresh provisions 
and medical supplies, studied the whole field, mastered 
its difficulties, and laid his plans. He hastened to 
Chattanooga as soon as possible over the precipitous 
mountain roads, which were rendered almost impassa- 
ble by the heavy rains, but by which alone he could 



Extent of his Command. 79 

reach that place. He moved with a small party on 
horseback, and in his weak physical condition only his 
strong will carried him through the difficult and dan- 
gerous journey. Often the entire party were obliged 
to dismount in order to pass some point of extreme 
difficulty and danger, and then Grant, unable to walk, 
was carried in the arms of soldiers. But his resolution 
carried him through, his mind all the time occupied 
with the great work before him, and framing orders 
and despatches to be sent to every part of his wide 
command and to the government, which was anxiously 
awaiting" his action. 

Grant's command extended a thousand miles, and 
comprised three armies, numbering about two hundred 
thousand men. The command was more extensive 
than that of any other general during the war ; the 
operations of greater magnitude, the positions and the 
interests at stake more important, than had yet been 
intrusted to one man. And the condition of the army 
at Chattanooga, and the urgent necessity of the speed- 
iest action, made the command still more responsible 
and difficult. But Grant, in spite of his physical con- 
dition, which was but slowly improving, devoted him- 
self to his great responsibility with the most untiring 
energy, and the most patient attention to all the count- 
less details of opening communications, providing sup- 
plies, forwarding troops, watching the enemy, foiling 
his movements, and planning defence or attack. Every 
movement was made by his orders ; his care of every 
department and of every position was wonderful, and 
his letters, orders, and despatches, sent daily, and 
almost hourly, to some part of his command or to 



8o Life of General Grant. 

Washington, testify not only to the amount of his 
labors, but to his comprehensive generalship, his 
fidelity to every duty, and a remarkable administra- 
tive power, which qualifies him for the highest civil as 
well as military position. And all was done with his 
characteristic quiet and self-reliance, without haste or 
impatience, and without ostentation. 

In five days after Grant's arrival at Chattanooga, 
communication with Nashville was opened, by dint of 
energy, skilful movements, and some sharp fighting, 
and supplies were brought in abundance to the army, 
which had been living on half rations. The soldiers 
thus relieved, regained their spirit and enthusiasm, and 
hailed Grant as a leader whom they were proud to 
serve under. With wondrous energy, aided* by his 
able subordinates, Thomas and Hooker, he had 
changed the aspect of affairs, loosened the clutch of 
the enemy, brought up supplies, and secured the safety 
of Chattanooga. And this, so promptly done, was an 
auffurv of future movements and future success, by 
which the defeat at Chickamauga should be avenged. 

The firs.t and most important operation, the relief 
and safety of the army at Chattanooga, had been ac- 
complished, but it must be followed promptly with a 
similar service for Burnside's army in East Tennessee. 
To this Grant also gave his personal attention, his first 
measure being to provide supplies for Burnside in his 
distant and not easily accessible position. This was 
followed by still more important measures, contemplat- 
ing the relief of Burnside's army from the superior 
forces of the enemy. As soon as Bragg found himself 
foiled at Chattanooga, he sent Longstreet, with a large 



At Chattanooga. 8i 

force, to drive Burnside from East Tennessee. The 
government was exceedingly anxious to hold this sec- 
tion of country, not only on account of its strategic 
importance, but for the sake of the loyal inhabitants 
who had suffered the malignant persecution of the 
rebels. Grant was informed of the importance at- 
tached to this by the government, and appreciated the 
urgency of the case. But it was impossible to reen- 
force Burnside, for the latter had no supplies for addi- 
tional troops, and there was no way of sending sup- 
plies ; while to weaken the forces at Chattanooga 
would invite an attack on that place by Bragg's strong 
army. Grant therefore determined that the only way 
in which he could relieve Burnside was to attack the 
rebels before Chattanooga, and compel Longstreet to 
abandon his movement. For this purpose he was most 
anxious for the arrival of Sherman, without whose 
forces such an attack could not be made. But Sher- 
man encountered many difficulties in moving his forces 
hundreds of miles through the enemy's country, and 
Grant was for once impatient, not at Sherman's delay, 
for he knew that was unavoidable, but lest he might 
be too late, and Burnside be captured or driven from 
East Tennessee. He urged the latter to maintain him- 
self as long as possible, promising soon to relieve him 
by a movement at Chattanooga ; and as Sherman's 
forces drew near, he several times issued orders for an 
attack, but was compelled to countermand them, for 
the very elements seemed to conspire to retard the 
movement of Sherman's column. 

But at last the wished-for troops arrived, weary with 
their long and difficult march, but having all the tough- 

6 



82 Life of General Grant. 

ness and discipline of veterans, and the confidence and 
ardor of victors. By skilful movements, concealed from 
the enemy, Sherman's army was moved through Chat- 
tanooga and across the river to confront the rebel right. 
The rapidity and energy with which this movement 
was made, involving the construction of bridges and 
transportation of troops, artillery, and supplies, were 
worthy of the army which, under the prompt, vigor- 
ous, and persistent lead of Grant, had made the bril- 
liant campaign of Vicksburg. Contrast the movements 
of this army, not only in that arduous campaign under 
Grant, but in its long and difficult march under Sher- 
man from Memphis to Chattanooga, through swamps, 
across rivers, over mountains, fighting and skirmish- 
ing, with the slow progress of the army of the Poto- 
mac under McClellan up the Peninsula, where there 
were no serious obstacles ! But there was a new order 
of things in the army now, and especially at the west ; 
and Hooker, who had chafed at the delays and want 
of vigor in the Peninsular campaign, at Chattanooga 
found a general who gave him all he wanted to do, 
expected him to surmount stupendous difficulties and 
fight the enemy at the same time, and who w T ould not 
pause when the golden moment for decisive action 
came, and say, 'This is all that was intended for the 
day.' 

The battle of Chattanooga was one of the most re- 
markable in the war, and indeed one of the most 
notable in modern history. Notwithstanding the great 
advantage of position the enemy enjoyed, and the dif- 
ficult character of the ground, Grant so laid his plans, 
and they were so carried out by the skill of his subor- 



Battle of Chattanooga. Si 



o 



dinates and the gallantry of their troops, that the rebel 
forces were compelled to move as he desired, and if he 
had given the orders himself, their movements could 
not have been more consonant with his purpose. It is 
not necessary to give the details of the operations, or 
even to attempt a sketch of the brilliant movements, 
the gallant deeds, the splendid success of the Union 
army. The reader knows the story well, — how 
Hookier on the right, climbing the precipitous sides of 
Lookout Mountain, drove the enemy from point to 
point, from redan and rifle-pit, over cliff and boulder, 
till, fighting above the clouds, he planted the Stars and 
Stripes on the summit of the rugged mountain, and 
rolled back the rebel flank defeated ; how Sherman on 
the left stormed with such energy the rebel right on 
Missionary Ridge, that Bragg was forced to send col- 
umn after column from his centre to maintain his 
ground and protect his rear and stores ; how, when 
the rebel centre was thus weakened, as by the very 
orders of Grant, he gave the word for the assault, and 
the gallant army of the Cumberland swept with irre- 
sistible force across the plain and up the steep and 
rugged hill, and fighting stubbornly against stubborn 
resistance, broke through the centre and planted their 
colors all along the ridge ; how thus the victory began, 
and then the long line of Union troops with triumphant 
shouts pressed upon their dispirited foes, until Bragg's 
whole army was routed and flying before the victorious 
national arms. But it was no brief conflict or easily 
won success, for the battle lasted three days, and the 
victory was won only by skill, gallantry, persistency, 
and a heavy cost of life. 



84 Life of General Grant. 

No battle of equal magnitude was ever fought more 
directly under the orders of the commanding general. 
Grant's plans were complete and well-digested, and 
his orders to his subordinates were clear and explicit, 
looking to one result, but providing for emergencies. 
Those orders were carried out with precision and alacrity 
by his able subordinates, not only because Grant was 
their superior officer, but because they had entire confi- 
dence in his ability. On the second, and decisive day of 
the battle, the general established his headquarters with 
Thomas, on Orchard Knoll, from which the rebels had 
been driven the preceding day. It was well to the 
front, and thus he had a full view of the whole field 
of operations, from Lookout Mountain on the right, 
down whose sides Hooker was driving the rebel left, 
to the extreme of Missionary Ridge on the left, where 
Sherman was making his vigorous assault on the strong 
and obstinately defended positions of the rebel right. 
In his front lay Thomas's army of the Cumberland, 
waiting for the important crisis when they should be 
allowed to join in the conflict, and avenge their defeat 
at Chickamauga. 

Smoking his cigar, Grant quietly but keenly watched 
the tide of battle, waiting for Hooker to get into the 
designated position, when he might order the attack 
on the centre. Sherman was having a difficult task, 
for Bragg, regarding his right as the key to his posi- 
tion, or believing that to be the main attack of the 
Union army, concentrated heavy forces there. Seeing 
Sherman had paused, Grant ordered another division 
to his support. The movement was seen by the enemy, 
and it had the effect desired by Grant. A strong col- 



Confidence in his Soldiers. 85 

umn was moved from the rebel centre to their right, 
and Grant, perceiving the opportunity for which he 
laid his plans, without waiting longer for Hooker, 
ordered the assault on the enemy's weakened centre. 
The troops eagerly obeyed the order, and advanced in 
splendid style towards the enemy's lines, utterly re- 
gardless of the heavy artillery fire which was poured 
into them. Without firing a gun, they charged with 
glistening bayonets through the enemy's first line, 
completely overwhelming it by their irresistible ad- 
vance. Then they began to climb the steep and rug- 
ged sides of the ridge, met by a stout resistance, but 
steadily advancing their colors, struggling up the diffi- 
cult ascent, and fighting with untiring energy and 
bravery. 

While Grant and Thomas anxiously watched the 
progress of this assault, a portion of the line seemed 
to halt half way up the ridge, as if the troops there 
had met with an overpowering resistance, and the 
numbers of wounded men who straggled down the hill 

So 

gave the appearance of a repulse. Thomas, though 
usually cool and collected in battle, was keenly alive 
to the importance of success at this crisis, and said, with 
much feeling and some hesitation as he watched, — 
"General, I'm afraid they won't get up." 
But Grant, watching more narrowly for a few min- 
utes, saw that the colors still advanced, though slowly, 
and knowing that the troops must be fatigued by the- 
extraordinary exertions of their rapid charge, but still 
having full confidence in them and in the success of 
his plans, he replied in his usual quiet manner, still 
smoking his cigar, — 



86 Life of General Grant. 

" O, give 'em time, general ; they'll do it." 
And they did it. Mounting persistently up the steep 
ascent, they at last reached the summit, and drove the 
rebel centre in disorder from the field, capturing artil- 
lery and many prisoners. But as the brave troops 
reached the summit, Grant and Thomas mounted their 
horses and rode forward to the front. When they 
reached the ridge, the victory had been achieved, and 
the soldiers, wild with joy, greeted their commanders 
with enthusiastic cheers. Crowding around Grant, 
they grasped his hand and embraced his legs, and 
caressed his horse, till he was compelled to order them 
away. His eye was still upon the field, and he saw 
that some of the rebel troops which had gone to resist 
Sherman were turning to attack the victors at the 
centre. The 'boys in blue' : Were in disorder from 
very joy for their victory, and there was danger that 
they would not soon enough rally to resist the threat- 
ened attack. Seeing this, Grant ordered up a brigade 
yet fresh and under discipline, and this being placed 
in position, the others also formed. The enemy, in- 
stead of attacking, retreated. The rebel left as well 
as centre had been utterly routed, nearly their whole 
force was flying panic-stricken, and the brilliant victory 
was won. 

But Grant was not one to sit down and exult over 
what he had done while there was anything more 
to do. He immediately ordered pursuit, and him- 
self followed to "direct it. Brao-a's defeated army re- 
treated in all haste, or rather fled, much of it utterly 
demoralized, though a portion, at one or two points, 
offered a vigprous resistance to the pursuers. The 



A Remarkable Battle. 87 

roads were strown with artillery and small arms, am- 
munition and baggage, and the wounded and strag- 
glers were found in large numbers. No such utter 
defeat had been inflicted upon the rebel forces in any 
great battle of the war. At Antietam and Gettysburg 
the enemy had been worsted with heavy loss, and, his 
invasion thoroughly checked, he had retired suddenly, 
but in order, and choosing his own time. At Chatta- 
nooga the rebel army had been driven from a position 
of great natural strength, fortified with skill - and de- 
fended with stubbornness, and, routed and. demoralized, 
it had been chased back with heavy losses into the heart 
of the rebel Confederacy. 

As soon as the pursuit terminated on the day follow- 
ing the victory, Grant sent Sherman to East Tennessee 
to the relief of Burnside, who had already repulsed 
Longstreet in a desperate assault at Knoxville. The 
approach of Sherman's forces caused Longstreet to 
retire, and Knoxville was left secure. 

" Considering the strength of the rebel position," says 
General Halleck, "and the difficulty of storming his 
intrenchments, the battle of Chattanooga must be re- 
garded as one of the most remarkable in history." 
And such is the testimony of other experienced and 
scientific soldiers at home and abroad. Without for- 
getting the gallant services of the officers and soldiers 
under him, the great glory of that ^splendid victory 
must be awarded to Grant, who came, fed, strength- 
ened, and encouraged a besieged and dispirited army, 
and marshalled it for battle. To him the untiring direct- 
or of all the operations, the vigorous mover and effi- 
cient feeder of troops, the able strategist and skilful 



88 Life of General Grant. 

tactician, the persistent and confident commander, the 
country is indebted for that signal success which was 
the forerunner of other victories, and one of the severest 
blows to the rebel Confederacy. 

The country recognized its obligations, and every- 
where among the gallant soldiers and the loyal people 
the name of Grant was hailed with grateful joy. Pres- 
ident Lincoln promptly sent him a telegram, in which 
he said, " I wish to tender you, and all under your com- 
mand, my more than thanks, my profoundest gratitude, 
for the skill, courage, and perseverance with which 
you and they, over so great difficulties, have effected 
that important object. God bless you all." Congress 
unanimously voted a resolution of thanks, and ordered 
a gold medal, commemorating the victory, to be pre- 
sented to Grant by the President, "in the name of the 
people of the United States of America." 

But amid all the praise and admiration with which he 
was everywhere received by citizens and soldiers, and 
all the honors awarded by the government, he was never 
elated, and he assumed no superiority, but was always 
the same simple, honest, and unpretending man that 
he had been before he became the ablest and most 
successful general of his time, — a genuine republican 
soldier. 



After the Victory. 89 



CHAPTER VII. 

Grant's Activity, Policy, and Plans. — The Necessity for placing the 
Armies under one efficient Commander. — The Man for the Place, 
and the Place for the Man. — Appointed Lieutenant General. — 
The Honor and the Responsibility. — Unsought by Grant. — All his 
Promotions made without his Knowledge. — Called to Washington. 

— Cordial Relations with Sherman and McPherson. — No Jealousy 
among his Subordinates. — Modest Appearance at Washington. — 
Dislikes the " Show Business." — Presentation of his Commission. 

— President Lincoln's Address and Grant's Reply. — A Commis- 
sion worthily bestowed. — Grand Reviews and Military Balls in 
McClellan's Time. — Disapproved by the Lieutenant General. — He 
disappoints the Ladies. — Reviews for Utility, not Show. — His 
Opinion of the Army of the Potomac. — Customs and Abuses re- 
formed. — Reduction of Baggage. —Grant's Baggage in the Vicks- 

burg Campaign Quiet and unostentatious Method of reforming 

Abuses. — Temporary Return to the West. — His first Orders as 
Lieutenant General. — Headquarters in the Field. — With the 
Army of the Potomac. — Confidence of the loyal People. — Entire 
Trust of the Government. — Relations between President Lincoln 
and Grant. — Their Letters on the Eve of the great Campaign. 

AFTER the victory at Chattanooga, Grant person- 
ally inspected every part of this extensive de- 
partment, his purpose being so to dispose his troops 
that he might assume the offensive in the spring, still 
making the rebel armies his objective. He sent an 
expedition, under Sherman, from Vicksburg into the 
interior of Mississippi, for the purpose of " cleaning 
out" the rebel forces in that state, and so destroying 



go Life of General Grant. 

communications and supplies that large armies could 
not easily move there ; and he kept all his forces well 
in advance, in order that he and not the rebels might 
take the initiative in the next campaign. That was 
Grant's policy always, to assume the offensive ; to seek 
out the enemy, and strike him boldly and vigorously. 
At this time, too, he projected, as his next campaign, 
an advance from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and thence, 
possibly, to Mobile. And from this plan resulted 
Sherman's brilliant movements to Atlanta, and his 
grand march to the sea. 

But Grant's plans for his own operations in the next 
campaign were destined to be considerably modified. 
The government and the people had long felt that in 
order to secure unity of purpose in the conduct of the 
campaigns, east and west, and an efficient cooperation 
between the several Union armies, it was important to 
have all the forces under the command of one active 
and able general. The generals-in-chief had thus far 
been unable to secure such unity of purpose and co- 
operation, and the country had looked anxiously for 
the "coming man" wlio should achieve what the loyal 
masses resolved upon. But now events pointed un- 
mistakably to the man who was qualified, if any in the 
army was, for this high command. Donelson, Shiloh, 
Vicksburg, and Chattanooga pointed to Grant as the 
most successful general, while all the movements in his 
campaigns were seen to be the most prompt, vigorous, 
and well sustained in the whole progress of the war. 
Moreover, he was always ready to conform to the 
policy of the government, and without question to sup- 
port it earnestly, and to secure its support for others. 



Appointed Lieutenant General. 91 

He had felt no petty jealousies, and he had inspired 
none in others, and at this time was the one who, of all 
others, could be promoted to the highest command 
without causing heart-burnings and insubordination, 
which would have been dangerous to the efficiency of 
the army. 

The man for the place having thus unmistakably ap- 
peared, a measure which had been for some time under 
consideration in Congress was adopted. The grade 
of Lieutenant General, which had been first created for 
Washington, and was conferred by brevet on Scott 
alone, was revived with great unanimity, and the 
President was authorized to appoint, with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, from among those officers 
most distinguished for courage, skill, and ability, a 
commander, " who, being commissioned as lieutenant 
general, shall be authorized, under the direction of the 
President, to command the armies of the United 
States." President Lincoln approved the bill on the 
1st of March, 1864, and on the same day nominated 
Major General Ulysses S. Grant as Lieutenant Gen- 
eral. The Senate promptly confirmed the nomination, 
and thus Grant was promoted to the highest military 
rank then recognized by law, and to the command of all 
the armies engaged in crushing the gigantic rebellion. 

Such honor had been fully bestowed upon but one 
man before, and that one Washington ; such power 
and responsibilities had been intrusted to no one. But 
honors and responsibilities came to Grant unsought, 
and were accepted with becoming modesty and with 
hopeful self-reliance, his only aim being to do his duty 
and serve his country. His position at this time is best 



p2 Life of General Grant. 

described by Hon. E. B. Washburne, of Illinois, a 
friend who had come to know him well and to fully 
appreciate him, and who, in a speech in Congress, 
said, "No man, with his consent, has ever mentioned 
Grant's name in connection with any position. I say 
what I know to be true, when I allege that every pro- 
motion he has received since he first entered the ser- 
vice to put down this rebellion, was moved without his 
knowledge or consent. And in regard to this very 
matter of lieutenant general, after the bill was intro- 
duced and his name mentioned in connection there- 
with, he wrote to me, and admonished me that he had 
been highly honored by the government, and did not 
ask or deserve anything more in the shape of honors 
or promotion ; and that a success over the enemy was 
what he craved above anything else." 

On the 3d of March he was summoned to Washing- 
ton ; and though he obeyed the order with alacrity, as 
he did all orders from the government, it was without 
ostentation or exultation, but with a just sense of the 
heavy responsibilities which were about to be imposed 
upon him. His modesty and his justice to the merits 
of his subordinates are illustrated by a friendly letter, 
which he wrote at this time to Sherman and McPher- 
son, in which he acknowledged, with perhaps too little 
credit to himself, how much of his success was due to 
the energy and skill of his subordinates, and especially 
to those distinguished officers. The cordial relations 
and friendship which existed between Grant and his 
able lieutenants was remarkable. They not only felt 
no jealousv, but they heartily rejoiced at his promotion. 
Nor was this feeling confined to the officers who had 



Appearance at Washington. 93 

served under him. General Halleck, whom by his 
new appointment he superseded, and who was at 
first slow to acknowledge Grant's merits, sincerely con- 
gratulated him on this recognition of his distinguished 
and meritorious services. General Meade, also, and 
other prominent officers of the eastern army, recognized 
his ability, and entertained nothing but respect for the 
man who by his merits alone had attained to such dis- 
tinguished honor, and who so modestly wore it. 

Grant arrived at Washington on the 8th of March, 
accompanied by two or three members of his staff and 
his eldest son, and almost an entire stranger in the 
city. Quietly entering his name on the register at 
Willard's Hotel, he modestly took his place among 
strangers at the table, with his boy, evidently seeking 
to avoid rather than to court public recognition. The 
crowd of guests did not see in the unassuming officer, 
who had come without any heralding, the man who 
had just been appointed to the highest military rank. 
But he was at last recognized by one gentleman, and 
the news passing rapidly through the company, he was 
greeted with enthusiastic cheers. That evening he 
attended the President's levee, and there he was the 
object of more striking demonstrations of enthusiasm, in 
which the President himself heartily joined. The victo- 
rious general who captured Donelson, defeated the rebels 
at Shiloh, made the brilliant and successful campaign 
of Vicksburg, and drove Bragg's legions from before 
Chattanooga, could not escape the grateful plaudits of 
the people, nor, as the newly-appointed Lieutenant 
General, fail to receive the most cordial tokens of the 
confidence and hopes which he inspired. 



94 Life of General Grant. 

Deeply impressed by these demonstrations, and 
grateful for the manifestations of respect and confi- 
dence so fully and heartily bestowed, Grant was never- 
theless unused to such things, and had a decided aver- 
sion to being lionized. As he left the White House he 
said to a friend, — 

:c I hope to get away from Washington as soon as 
possible, for I am tired of the show business already." 

The next day, March 9th, a more impressive scene 
took place in the Cabinet Chamber of the White 
House, when President Lincoln formally presented to 
Grant his commission as Lieutenant General. The 
presentation took place in presence of the members of 
the Cabinet, General Halleck, two members of Gen- 
eral Grant's staff, his son, Hon. Owen Lovejoy, and 
one or two others who had been invited to be present. 
After Grant had been introduced to the members of the 
Cabinet, President Lincoln addressed him as follows : 

" General Grant, the nation's appreciation of what 
you have done, and its reliance upon you for what re- 
mains to be done in the existing great struggle, are 
now presented with this commission, constituting you 
Lieutenant General in the army of the United States. 
With this high honor devolves upon you, also, a cor- 
responding responsibility. As the country herein trusts 
you, so, under God, it will sustain you. I scarcely 
need add that, with what I here speak for the nation, 
goes my own hearty personal concurrence." 

Receiving the commission, General Grant replied, — 

"Mr. President, I accept the commission, with grati- 
tude for the high honor conferred. With the aid of the 
noble armies that have fought in so many fields for our 



A Change of Fashion. 95 

common country, it will be my earnest endeavor not to 
disappoint your expectations. I feel the full weight of 
the responsibilities now devolving on me ; and I know 
that if they are met, it will be due to those armies, and, 
above all, to the favor of that Providence which leads 
both nations and men." 

Such was the spirit with which this most important 
commission was given and received — confidence and 
hope on the one side, patriotism and modest devotion 
to duty on the other. And never was such a commis- 
sion, involving so much the honor, safety, and integrity 
of the nation, more worthily bestowed. For in Grant 
the country had not only an officer whose ability had 
been fully proved in long campaigns and on great bat- 
tle-fields, but one who inspired the truest enthusiasm 
and confidence of the soldier and the harmony and re- 
spect of his subordinate officers, and who himself mani- 
fested, without ambition or selfishness, a thorough 
respect for and deference to the wishes and commands 
of his superior, the President, and his sympathy with 
the war policy of his government. 

Washington, as the capital of the nation, is of course 
a place famous for fetes, balls, and all sorts of gay fes- 
tivities. The war had made little difference in this 
respect, except that the southern aristocracy did not now 
rule society there. While McClellan commanded, and 
the army of the Potomac was waiting before Washing- 
ton, there had been "grand reviews," at which the 
commanding general was " attended by a brilliant 
staff'," and all the beauty and fashion of the city came 
out to see and to be entertained at his headquarters, 
and those of subordinate generals. Pleasant times 



96 Life of General Grant. 

those for young officers, and equally agreeable to the 
gay belles who admired such brave cavaliers. Balls 
in camp followed the grand reviews, and of course gal- 
lant officers exerted themselves to make everything 
charming for their fair guests and distinguished visi- 
tors. Pleasure-seeking ladies voted these festivities 
delightful ; and as the gay scenes hid from their view 
the horrors and sorrows of war, — the battle-field, the 
hospital, the desolated home, — they were ever ready 
to contribute their part to such agreeable entertain 
ments. The fashion set in McClellan's time had 
been duly observed when an opportunity offered. 

The appointment of Grant to a superior rank, and 
his accession to the command of all the armies, seemed 
to some of the thoughtless a rare opportunity for the 
revival of the "grand reviews," and the gay ball to fol- 
low it. The project was buzzed about with approba- 
tion at one of the receptions of some official host, at 
which Grant was present, and a bevy of ladies 
gathered about him to propose it. They expatiated on 
the enjoyments of such occasions in the past, and with 
all their witchery begged him to have another grand 
review, and allow them to arrange for another military 
ball to follow it. Grant listened with the quiet polite- 
ness which he always shows to ladies, smiling at their 
eagerness, and putting a few questions relative to former 
festivities, and the assailants thought they were about 
to carry the fortress, to secure an "unconditional surren- 
der" to their demands and their plans. But the new 
Lieutenant General dashed their hopes by saying, — 

"Ladies, please stop the agitation of this subject at 
once, for if another ball is attempted in the army of the 



His Idea of the Army of the Potomac. 97 

Potomac, I shall feel called upon to forbid it by a special 
order. I appeal to you if this is a time for feasting and 
dancing among officers of the army, when the stern 
duties of war are before them? Or are they becom- 
ing, when our country is in danger, and so many sick 
and wounded soldiers fill our hospitals ? " 

There was no help for it, and the ladies gracefully 
surrendered to the quiet and sensible determination of 
the new Lieutenant General, and the young officers 
of the army of the Potomac soon forgot their dreams of 
such gayeties in earnest preparation for the realities of 
war. 

Reviews, however, were had, not that the Lieuten- 
ant General might display a brilliant staff either to 
spectators or the army, nor that he might please the 
soldiers by complimentary remarks or grandiloquent 
addresses, but that he might see of what material this 
noble army of the Potomac was composed, and what 
was its equipment and discipline. After one of these 
reviews he was one day asked what he thought of the 
-personnel of the army, and replied, — 

"This is a very fine army, and these men, I am told, 
have fought with great bravery. But I think," he 
added, after a pause, "the army of the Potomac has 
never fought its battles through." 

Whether the opinion was entirely just or not, it illus- 
trated Grant's own character for indomitable energy and 
persistency, and manifested also his faith in that army 
which, under his direction, was to display his charac- 
teristics, and fight its battles through to the final victory. 

The army of the Potomac had been, through nearly 
all its existence, so near to the national capital, and 

7 



08 Life of General Grant. 

within such easy communication with the great cities 
and the manufacturing States of the Atlantic coast, 
that it was supplied with some comforts and luxuries 
which were not enjoyed by the western armies. The 
nature of its campaigns, too, and frequent communica- 
tion with Washington, had gradually introduced cus- 
toms which were unknown in western campaigns. 
The amount of officers' baggage, especially during 
the months of comparative inactivity, had materially 
increased, and was much larger than that carried in 
the campaigns at the west. In the Vicksburg cam- 
paign Grant had ordered the amount of baggage, both 
of officers and regiments, to be reduced to the smallest 
possible amount, and it was facetiously said that all 
that the general allowed himself was "a pocket-comb, 
a tooth-brush, and a brier-wood pipe." 

Another custom had grown up at the east for of- 
ficers to use ambulances, and even more luxurious 
carriages, for transportation from one point to another, 
and many horses and vehicles were thus used without 
any legitimate authority, sometimes much to the dis- 
satisfaction of the soldiers, who were precluded from 
such privileges, and not much to the advantage of the 
officers. 

Sutlers, too, and other camp followers, were numer- 
ous, making discipline more lax, and interfering with 
the efficiency of the army in active service. 

When Grant assumed the direction of the move- 
ments of the army, his first action was quietly to re- 
form these abuses, to reduce the quantity of baggage 
allowed to officers and regiments, to prohibit the use 
of ambulances and carriages by officers on ordinary 



Assumes Command of all the Armies. 99 

occasions, and to drive out a large number of sutlers 
anfl. camp followers. These measures were, to the 
credit of officers and men, acquiesced in without much 
complaint, and the army was made more ready for the 
campaign which was to follow. They were carried 
out, too, by Grant, in his usual quiet way, with a tact 
and absence of all parade, or public condemnation, 
which avoided offence, and secured willing coopera- 
tion. 

When Grant w r as summoned to Washington to be 
invested with the command of all the armies of the 
United States, he expected soon to return to the w r est, 
and resume command of the forces which had already 
achieved such victories under him. But after a council 
of war had been held at the capital, and Grant had 
matured his general plans of the campaigns for all the 
armies, he determined to remain at the east. As com- 
mander-in-chief he might with propriety have estab- 
lished his headquarters at Washington, and directed 
the various operations from that place. But he felt out 
of his element in Washington, and preferred to be in 
the field, directing in person the active operations of 
one army, while he more indirectly ordered the move- 
ments of the others. The campaign in Virginia, where 
the opposing armies had been so long contending with- 
out decisive results, promised to be the most difficult 
and severe, and gave him the opportunity of rendering 
the greatest service to his country ; and he therefore 
determined to take the field with the army of the Po- 
tomac, the immediate command of.which was still held 
by General Meade. Going west for a short time, to 
consult with General Sherman, and give directions con- 



ioo Life of General Grant. 

cerning the campaign there, he issued his first orders, 
assuming command of all the armies, at Nashville, on 
the 17th of March. In those orders he announced, 
"My headquarters will be in the field, and until further 
orders, will be with the army of the Potomac." 

This announcement was highly gratifying to the 
army of the Potomac and to the loyal people, whose 
confidence in Grant was such that they believed the 
brave soldiers of that noble but too often unfortunate 
army, under his able and persistent lead, would achieve 
a signal success, which should not only foil an invasion 
of the north by the rebels, but ultimately defeat them 
utterly and forever. 

General Grant, indeed, entered upon his heavy re- 
sponsibilities and duties under all the advantages of 
entire trust on the part of the government and a ma- 
jority of the people, and their determination to sustain 
him to the extent of their power. Every exertion was 
made to strengthen the armies, and to give effect to all 
the measures which he proposed. The nature of his 
relations with his only superior officer, the President, 
is shown by the following correspondence, which took 
place on the eve of the great campaign against Rich- 
mond. Those cordial relations were maintained through 
the life of President Lincoln. « 

Executive Mansion, ) 
Washington, April 30, 1S64. 5 

Lieutenant General Grant : Not expecting to 
see you before the spring campaign opens, I wish to 
express in this way my entire satisfaction with what you 
have done up to this time, so far as I understand it The 
particulars of your plan I neither know nor seek to know . 



Letter to President Lincoln. ioi 

You are vigilant and self-reliant, and pleased with this 
I wish not to obtrude any restraints or constraints upon 
you. While I am very anxious that any great disaster 
or capture of our own men may be avoided, I know that 
these points are less likely to escape your attention 
than they would be mine. If there be anything want- 
ing which is within my power to give, do not fail to let 
me know it. And now, with a brave army and a just 
cause, may God sustain you. 

Yours very truly, 

A. Lincoln. 

HeADOJJARTERS ARMY OF THE U. S., 7 

Culpepper C. II., Va., May i, 1864. > 

Mr. President : Your very kind letter of yester- 
day is just received. The confidence you express for 
the future, and satisfaction for the past, in my military 
administration, is acknowledged with pride. It shall 
be my earnest endeavor that you and the country shall 
not be disappointed. From my first entry into the vol- 
unteer service of the country to the present day, I have 
never had cause of complaint, and have never expressed 
or implied a complaint against the administration or the 
Secretary of War for throwing any embarrassment in 
the w r ay of my vigorously prosecuting what appeared 
to be my duty. Indeed, since the promotion which 
placed me in command of all the armies, and in view 
of the great responsibility and importance of success, 
I have been astonished at the readiness with which 
everything asked for has been yielded without even an 
explanation being asked. Should my success be less 
than I desire and expect, the least I can say is, the fault 
is not with you. 

Very truly your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General. 



io2 Life of General Grant. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



tft 



Campaign against Richmond. — Grant's Vigor and his Staff. — 
Strategy. — Grant with the Armj' of the Potomac.. — His Tenaci- 
ty. — No such Thing as Defeat. — His Eye always towards the 
Front. — He didn't helieve in Disaster. — Practical Application of 
Science. — Use of a Rebel Shell. — Flank Movement. — "On to 
Richmond." — At Spottsylvania. — The famous Despatch : "I pro- 
pose to fight it out on this line." — A Pause in the Fight, and 
efficient Work in the Rear. — Croakers' Talk of Strategy and Cop- 
perhead Abuse. — Grant's Purpose. — Hard Fighting and Strategy 
equally valued. — The Purpose never abandoned. — Desperate 
Resistance, of the Enemy. — Grant's skilful Manoeuvres. — His 
Hold on Lee. — General Butler's Movement. — Grant disap- 
pointed. — Before Petersburg. — The Rebels kept busy. — The 
Weldon Railroad. — Laying Plans and waiting the Developments 
of other Campaigns. — A new Clamor. — Sherman's brilliant Oper- 
ations. — The Final Campaign. — Grant the Director. — His 
Strategy, Manoeuvres, Sagacity, and Persistency. — Flight of Jeff 
Davis and Retreat of Lee's Army. — Grant chooses Lee's Route. 
— The Pursuit. — Lee in a Strait. — Correspondence. — The In- 
terview at Appomattox. — The Surrender and Downfall of the 
Rebel Confederacy. — Joy of the People. — Grant's Honors well 
won. — What he had done. 

S soon as the general plan of the campaign of 
1864 had been determined upon by Grant, he 
went vigorously to work to carry it into effect. He 
had no taste for show, and gave no time to it. He did 
not believe in delay, and would not tolerate it. Ready 
to work himself, and capable of accomplishing a great 
deal of labor, he set a good example, and required it 




Campaigns against Richmond. 103 

to be followed. His headquarters were always distin- 
guished by the quiet, business-like industry of his staff 
and clerks. And in the selection of his staff, he chose 
only men of capacity for their several duties, never 
simply for their good looks or social position, as some 
officers did, nor for mere friendship. No intimation of 
his plans*ever leaked out from his headquarters to reach 
alike the loyal press and the rebel commanders. The 
Lieutenant General kept his own counsel, except so far 
as it was necessary to intrust a knowledge of his pur- 
poses to his subordinates ; and his staff learned* reti- 
cence from his example, if not from his injunctions. 

The government heartily supported the man to whom 
it had intrusted the whole military power. Supplies 
and munitions were furnished without stint, and all that 
Grant deemed necessary at any point was furnished as 
promptly as possible. The country, too, sent forward 
troops with unfailing zeal, and the armies were filled 
up to a strength they had never before reached. Two 
years before, after great preparation and long delay, 
after many grand reviews and much unpractical disci- 
pline, a commander, of whom the country unwisely 
expected as much as they did now of Grant, had be- 
gun the first campaign against Richmond. From the 
outset, he had asked for reinforcements, and the bur- 
den of all his despatches was "more troops," :c more 
troops," or something more and different from what the 
government had provided or proposed, not because he 
had -proved the strength of the enemy, but because he 
feared it, and was ready to magnify it. And so the 
very delays resulting from his dissatisfaction with what 
he had, and his distrust of his troops, if not of his own 



104 Life of General Grant. 

capacity, served to make the enemy as formidable as 
he had feared. 

It is true that there had now been a great improve- 
ment in military affairs. The army was better organ- 
ized, better equipped, and better officered, and experi- 
ence had made both men and officers more efficient. 
But Grant, on assuming command, had made no ex- 
travagant demands, and sought no extraordinary 
power. Never in all his campaigns had he clamored 
for reinforcements. He had always taken what the 
government could send, and made the best possible use 
of them. So, as the commander of all the armies, he 
evinced the same spirit, trusting to the patriotism of 
the government and the people to furnish all that they 
could to accomplish the work of crushing the rebellion, 
and resolved to do his part by. a faithful and persistent 
use of the means thus placed in his hands. His letter 
to President Lincoln, quoted in the preceding chapter, 
shows how he acknowledged the efforts of the govern- 
ment, and with what a generous spirit he recognized 
his own responsibility. 

As Grant's strategy .in his former campaigns had 
been simply to make the rebel armies his objective, so 
in his wider field he did not change it. The rebel army 
in Virginia was the objective of the eastern campaign, 
and the rebel army between Chattanooga and Atlanta 
was the objective of the western campaign. These 
two armies comprised the mass of the rebel forces, and 
covered the vital points of the rebel Confederacy, and 
they were to be the objects towards which the two 
great Union armies were to move ; all other operations 
being in aid of these, to create diversions, or to hold 



With the Army of the Potomac. 105 

detached rebel forces from joining the main rebel 
armies. Neither Richmond nor Atlanta were con- 
sidered strategic points which it was important to reach 
and hold, but Grant's purpose was to reach and defeat 
the rebel armies, whether in front of those places, or 
wherever they might be made to give battle. In them 
was the strength of the rebellion, and with their defeat 
it would be conquered. 

Grant's combined movements were made early in 
May, General Sherman succeeding him in the imme- 
diate command of the western army, Grant himself, as 
before stated, directing the campaign in Virginia, 
General Meade being in immediate command. Coop- 
erating with the army of the Potomac was a force under 
General Butler, which moved up the James River to- 
wards Richmond, and upon the operations of which 
Grant relied for early success, and another under 
General Sigel, which moved up the Shenandoah 
Valley. 

Though General Meade remained in immediate 
command of the army of the Potomac, it was unmis- 
takably a satisfaction to the country that General Grant 
was present to direct the campaign and to fight the 
battles. The army too was inspired by his presence ; 
for his previous success, his acknowledged ability, and 
his well-known perseverance, were an assurance of 
ultimate victory. His unassuming, quiet, self-reliant 
manner, and his republican simplicity, also impressed 
the soldiers and won their respect. For the Union 
army was a democratic army, and essentially Anglo- 
Saxon, or certainly not French enough to be long car- 
ried away by Napoleonic displays of military grandeur, 



106 Life of General Grant. 

high-sounding addresses, and lofty condescension, such 
as in its earlier days seemed to be the spirit of the head- 
quarters of the army of the Potomac. The soldiers 
had learned to judge of officers by their success, and 
not by brave words or brilliant promises ; by their en- 
ergy and activity, and not by a showy staff or excess 
of etiquette. 

As the campaign progressed, he imparted to officers 
and men something of his own persistency and indom- 
itable purpose, and thus carried them through terrible 
conflicts and trying emergencies, which, without his 
presence and direction, might have resulted in discour- 
agement and defeat. 

The advance from the Rapidan to Richmond illus- 
trated Grant's tenacity of purpose, and the battles 
illustrated his skill as a tactician. They were the most 
obstinate contests of the war ; for here was the flower 
of the rebel army under their ablest officers, fighting 
for their capital, and knowing that with their defeat 
the rebel Confederacy must go down in ignominy. 
The campaign was vital to both the contestants ; for, 
while defeat of the rebels was the death-blow to the 
rebellion, a defeat of the Union army would have 
involved a similar fate to the western army, and 
could be retrieved only by still greater sacrifices of 
blood and treasure. Nay, defeat now involved more 
than this, for a disloyal peace party at the North, 
and foreign intervention, would have profited by such 
a disaster, and the rebel Confederacy would have 
become a recognized nation. Fortunate for the coun- 
try was it that it had such a man as Grant to lead its 
principal armies at such a crisis, — a soldier of tried 



No such Thing as Defeat. 107 

skill, of inexhaustible resources, unfaltering persist- 
ency, and who, with the confidence of a fatalist, knew 
no such thing as defeat. 

Grant never supposed such a thing as defeat possible, 
though he never placed his army in a position from 
which his skill could not extricate it in case of neces- 
sity. His eye and his thoughts were always turned 
towards the front and on his own aggressive move- 
ments, and he found no time to direct them to the rear. 
He took care that the quartermasters, with ample sup- 
plies, should always be there, and that was the only 
reason for keeping his communications open, for he 
never thought of return. 

It would have taken a terrible defeat to make Grant 
believe it, so strong was his faith in success. At the 
battle of the Wilderness, when the rebels, massing 
heavily against Hancock's corps, pressed it back, an 
aid brought word to Grant that the corps had suffered 
serious disaster. " I don't believe it," said the general, 
with something more of vehemence than usual ; and he 
sent the aid back for further reports, which proved that 
the first accounts were greatly exaggerated. The na- 
ture of the country where the battle of the Wilderness 
was fought was such as to make it but little better than a 
fight in the dark. A thick, low growth of wood on a 
wide plain, with only moderate elevations, concealed 
the movements of both friend and foe, except where 
they were actually engaged, and it was impossible for 
the commanding general or his subordinates to direct 
the movements of the troops with the precision which 
had been shown at Chattanooga. Though the rebels 
could see no better, the ground was more familiar to 



108 Life of General Grant. 

them, and they had only to feel the position of an army 
just advancing into the Wilderness. An open country, 
where he could see the enemy's lines, and the advan- 
tages or disadvantages of his own position, might have 
enabled Grant, with his skilful manoeuvres and grand 
tactics and tenacity, to achieve a victory on the first 
field, which he was determined to achieve some- 
where. 

The obscurity of the field, and Grant's practical mind, 
which in a campaign was full of resources for great 
occasions or small, are shown by an incident at his 
headquarters. A rebel shell struck quite near to him- 
self and Meade as they were conversing together, fur- 
rowing the ground anc i bursting at some distance. 
Though the shell came unpleasantly near, Grant 
neither started nor spoke, but he put it to some use. 
Drawing from his pocket a small compass, he calcu- 
lated the course of the shell, and in a few minutes he 
had some artillery posted to silence the rebel battery 
which had thrown it. The guns thus posted and 
pointed soon silenced the unseen battery, and Grant, 
inquiring the elevation of the guns, calculated the po- 
sition and distance of the enemy's line, and acted 
promptly on the result. 

Not content to fight, as it w r ere, in the dark, where 
he could not strike a decisive blow, Grant had recourse 
to a flank movement, which, in his progress towards 
Richmond, soon became famous. Severing his com- 
munications at the Rapidan, he moved the army to 
Spottsylvania, for the purpose of placing it between 
Lee's army and the rebel capital, or forcing him to 
accept battle on a different field. Having determined 



The Famous Despatch. 109 

upon this movement, he sent to the President the fol- 
lowing brief despatch : — 

"I am on to Richmond. All goes well." 

In allusion to this despatch, the President said, with 
characteristic point, — 

"General Grant has gone ahead, and drawn his 
ladder after him." 

But the rebels had the advantage of interior lines, 
and, perceiving Grant's movement, reached Spottsylva- 
nia first. There they already had fortifications, which 
they promptly strengthened, and occupied a strong 
position. The country was more favorable for grand 
tactics, and Grant made some brilliant manoeuvres and 
attacks, which forced the rebels within their strongest 
works. It was from this place that he sent to Wash- 
ington his famous despatch, which thrilled the country 
with its determined spirit, and became familiar through- 
out the land. It simply recounted, in the briefest pos- 
sible terms, what had been done, and his own determi- 
nation. It contained no boast, and no extravagant 
promise ; no call for reinforcements, and no com- 
plaint ; but it showed the spirit of the great command- 
er, and that with which he inspired the army. 

In the Field, May n, 1864. 

"We have now ended the sixth day of very heavy 
fighting. The result to this time is much in our favor. 

Our losses have been heavy, as well as those of the 
enemy. I think the loss of the enemy must be greater. 

We have taken over five thousand prisoners in bat- 
tle, while he has taken from us but few, except strag- 
glers. 

/ -propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all 

Slimmer. 



no Life of General Grant. 

The army of the Potomac was likely to "fight its 
battles through " now, if it never had before. 

But the rebel position was one of great strength, and 
could be carried only by greatly superior numbers or at 
a heavy sacrifice of life;. and the army, after its eight 
days of fighting and marching, needed rest. Grant 
therefore ceased to. attack, and the rebels had suffered 
too much to assume the offensive. In this pause, all 
the vast work necessary for the support of a great army 
— the bringing up of supplies, removal of the wounded, 
and the arrival of reinforcements — went on with un- 
usual celerity and success, and all the arrangements 
were perfected for establishing a new base when the 
army moved. Never before during the war had the 
quartermaster's department been so efficiently adminis- 
tered ; and not a little of its promptness and efficiency 
were due to the direction and influence of Grant, who 
had already at the west proved himself the ablest of 
administrative officers. 

During this brief delay, Grant determined upon his 
next move, which was another flank movement to force 
the rebel army back, farther from Washington, nearer 
to Richmond. But Lee, also, had made preparations 
to move ; and, having still interior lines, he retired to 
another and stronger position between the North Anna 
and South Anna Rivers. Some persons, who were 
continually talking about " strategy," and who were, 
doubtless, admirers of the strategy of the first cam- 
paign against Richmond, imagined Grant was simply 
an obstinate fighter, and possessed no attribute of a 
good general. Copperhead admirers of McClellan, 
such as had before maligned the hero of Donelson and 



Hammering at the Rebel Army. hi 

Vicksburg, now called him a 'butcher" who wanton- 
ly sacrificed his own men. But such malignant charges 
originated only with those whose sympathies were not 
with the Union sacrifices but with the rebel losses, and 
who hated Grant because he was hammering at the 
rebellion with the purpose of crushing it, and not -par- 
leying with it. 

Grant's purpose was to drive the rebel army back 
forever from its threatening position too near to Wash- 
ington ; to fight it at all times, and in all places, when 
necessary ; to "hammer" at it, and deal it frequent and 
heavy blows, from which it could not recover. But 
whenever his purpose could be better gained by strate- 
gy and manoeuvring, he resorted to them with a skill 
not inferior to his persistency in fighting. So at the 
South Anna, without a battle, he again flanked the 
enemy, and forced him nearer to Richmond. Hard 
fighting followed, for the rebels grew more and more 
desperate as they were driven towards their capital, 
but they struggled in vain. It is true they were not 
beaten, though they suffered irreparable losses; but 
they achieved no victory, — for a victory to them was 
nothing less than the utter defeat of the Union arnry, 
and the abandonment of its purpose. 

In the previous campaigns of these opposing armies, 
after a great battle, one or the other had withdrawn, — at 
Fredericksburg and Chancellors ville, the Union army ; 
at Antietam and Gettysburg, the rebels. But in this 
campaign the rebels found a change in the tactics 
of the Union army. Grant massed his troops, and 
launched heavy columns against them, after the man- 
ner of their own ablest generals ; and when his forces 



ii2 Life of General Grant. 

were checked, and the attacks failed, he did not with- 
draw, discouraged or disconcerted, but held on still, 
and, with ready resources, changed his plan, but never 
abandoned his furfose. The battles of the Wilder- 
ness, Spottsylvania, and Cold Harbor, were among the 
severest of the war, and the rebels fought with a des- 
peration they had never before shown, and which they 
believed must triumph. But northern persistency, 
under the lead of Grant, was a match for southern fire 
and desperation. The army of the Potomac was no 
longer to be shaken off or compelled to retire. 

It is not to be supposed that the campaign plans of 
even the greatest military genius can be fully carried 
out in their details if opposed by an enemy of even or- 
dinary skill and bravery. Grant was contending with 
the most skilful generals of the rebel Confederacy, and 
with their strongest army of veteran soldiers, animated 
with the belief that they were fighting the desperate 
battles which must decide the fate of the rebellion. 
He was forced to modify or wholly change his plans, 
but he never changed his furfosc, which was, sooner 
or later, on one field or another, to defeat and destroy 
Lee's army. In changing his plans, he proved his 
abundant and ready resources, and, trusting to his sub- 
ordinates for the skilful execution of skilfully laid plans, 
he did not hesitate to adopt some bold manoeuvres and 
unexpected movements. The withdrawal of the army 
from the closest contact with the rebels at Cold Harbor, 
and the flank movement made before their eyes, was a 
daring trial of a dangerous piece of tactics ; but its 
boldness and admirable execution made it a complete 
success. It showed, in Grant, a perfect appreciation 



A Disappointment. 113 

of the situation, courage, skill, resources, and tenacity 
of purpose. He had found Lee's army stronger than 
he had hoped, and he had not defeated it before it 
reached the defences of Richmond ; but he had driven 
it from its fortified lines on the Rapidan back to the 
very streets of Richmond ; had hammered it, wasted 
it, and dealt it heavy blows; and now, with an 
inflexible purpose and an unwavering confidence, 
he skilfully and successfully changed his base, and 
transferred his army to the south side of the James. 
But he still had his hold on Lee, and he ke^pt it to 
the end, 

A part of Grant's plan for the campaign was the 
movement of an army, under General Butler, up James 
River, to secure possession of the south bank, occupy 
Petersburg, and hold the rebel railroad communications 
with the South. He had expected important results 
from this expeditionary army, which was supposed to 
be amply sufficient to accomplish the purpose, so long 
as the army of the Potomac acted the vigorous part as- 
signed it. General Butler's prompt and decisive man- 
ner of dealing with the rebels at New Orleans led 
Grant to hope for similar energy and success in the 
conduct of this movement. But, whether the failure 
was due to the want of military ability in Butler or his 
subordinates, or to the inadequacy of the forces, the 
movement on Petersburg failed, and Butler's army, 
after a short time, was besieged in its intrenchments 
at Bermuda Hundred, and suffered some reverses. 
This result, which disappointed his hopes and expec- 
tations, and doubtless led to a change of plans and a 
prolonged contest, confirmed Grant's prejudices against 

8 



ii4 Life of General Grant. 

military appointments for political considerations. His 
experience with McClernancTs inefficiency, insubordi- 
nation, and conceit, led him, upon Butler's failure, to 
regard the latter in a similar light. Subsequent events 
did not increase his confidence in Butler's military ca- 
pacity, and with straightforward and soldierly frank- 
ness he expressed it. Butler's irrepressible nature did 
not accept this kindly, and, in a war of words, notice- 
able only because of his prominent political position, 
he grave vent to his feelings. But if Butler will rest his 
reputation on his earlier services, and on his expedition 
to New Orleans, and his able and effective administra-. 
tion of affairs in that rebellious city, no one more than 
Grant will award him the fullest credit. 

Finding, upon trial, that it was too late to take the 
strong fortifications of Petersburg bv assault, Grant 
determined to invest them, extending his lines to the 
north side of the James, and gradually on the south side 
of Petersburg. But while he undertook the siege, of 
the rebel stronghold, he was so constantly active that, 
he kept Lee's army on the defensive, and prevented 
him from sending any very large force to create a di- 
version. Lee, indeed, undertook one such diversion 
by sending Ewell down the valley of the Shenandoah, 
but Grant transferred a sufficient force to meet him, 
and, under the gallant lead of Sheridan, Ewell and his 
army were utterly defeated. The ease and rapidity 
with which he transferred his troops — a whole corps 
at once — from one point to another, across the James, 
and from one flank to the other, illustrated not only the 
increased mobility of the army, but Grant's skilful di- 
rection and vigorous activity. 



Unmoved by Popular Impatience. ri5; 

By persistent movements to the left, Grant seized the" 
Weldon Railroad, an important line of communication 
between Richmond and the South, and held it against 
all the efforts of the rebels to regain it. The tenacity: 
with which he held what he gained was illustrated, at. 
that time, as the reader may recollect, by .a .popular, 
cartoon in one of the pictorial papers, in which Grant 
was represented as a mastiff sitting composedly before 
the bone of contention, and asking the canine rebels, 
r Why don't you come and take it ? ' : Other advantages , 
were gained, and cavalry raids interrupted the rebel - 
communications, and subjected them to loss and a 
dearth of supplies which discouraged both army and 
people. But Grant was now waiting for the develop- 
ments of other campaigns, laying his plans and making 
preparations for the final and successful operations 
which were to commence as soon as the proper time 
arrived. 

During this period of comparative inactivity and ab- 
sence of palpable results, the country, ignorant of what 
was in store, became again a little impatient. There 
were some who clamored for more active operations ; 
and though the general faith in Grant was not lost, there ; 
were occasional demands that he should give place 
to Sherman, who appeared more active. But Grant, 
undisturbed by such clamors, quietly pursued his way, 
conscious that he was faithfully serving his country, 
and confident that his plans, embracing the movements 
of all the armies, would result in that great and final 
success which the country desired. 

In the mean time Sherman had made his brilliant and 
successful campaign to Atlanta, and by strategy and 



n6 Life of General Grant. 

hard fighting had driven Johnston into that place to be 
deprived of his command. By strategy he had forced 
Hood, Johnston's successor, out of Atlanta, and cap- 
tured the town. Then sending Thomas with sufficient 
force back to Nashville to punish the rashness of Hood, 
he had cut loose from his base, and made his great 
march from Atlanta to the sea ; and, under orders from 
Grant, w r as on his more difficult but no less successful 
march through the Carolinas, where Johnston, restored 
to command by the despair of the rebel leaders, was 
vainly preparing to resist him. Spring opened, and 
the auspicious moment for which Grant had anxiously 
waited was at hand. It was not suffered to pass. The 
army was in excellent condition and spirits, and with 
characteristic promptness and energy the Lieutenant 
General commenced his final and most brilliant cam- 
paign. 

It is not necessary to go at all into the details of that 
memorable campaign, the splendid achievements and 
glorious results of which are fresh in the reader's 
mind. In conception, plan, and execution, it was 
Grant's — the result of no council of war, of no impor- 
tant suggestions from other officers or the government. 
His strategy had brought Sherman's grand army from 
Savannah into North Carolina almost within reach, 
and had moved another large force under Hancock up 
the Valley of the Shenandoah and towards Lynchburg, 
while the army of the James threatened Richmond on 
the south-east, and the army of the Potomac, south of 
Petersburg, and between Lee and Johnston, only 
waited for his orders to commence the battle, or series 
of battles, which should overthrow the hard-pressed 



Defeat of Lee. 117 

rebel Confederacy. His manoeuvres secured the chief 
battle-field of his own selection. His orders massed 
the troops where he wanted to strike the heaviest 
blow r s. His sagacity selected the gallant Sheridan to 
lead the boldest movements and the hardest fighting-. 
His keen vision saw the key to the rebel position at 
Five Forks, and his persistency pressed his heavy 
columns upon it till it was carried, and Lee sent his 
message of dismay to the trembling traitors at Rich- 
mond. His strategy had practically surrounded the 
rebel armies, and his tactics forced Lee to retreat by a 
line north of the Appomattox, on a route chosen by 
himself. 

Jeff Davis and his confederate traitors of the rebel 
government fled precipitately from Richmond, and 
Lee's army evacuated that city and Petersburg, utterly 
defeated and demoralized. Retreating by the route 
which Grant had forced them to take, the rebels were 
promptly and vigorously pursued by a shorter road, 
harassed and hurried by the Union cavalry. Every 
skirmish resulted in their defeat, and the roads were 
strown w r ith the evidences of their demoralization. 
Numerous guns and prisoners were captured, and the 
army which had so long resisted the national authority 
was rapidly diminishing by the desertion of the dis- 
heartened men. Not only w r as it pursued by the 
victorious army of the Potomac, but by Grant's strat- 
egy at Lynchburg, whither it w r as retreating, it was 
confronted by Hancock's forces from the Shenandoah 
Valley, and Stoneman's strong cavalry force was 
approaching from the west. 

While the pursuit was still in progress, Grant, 



ii8 Life -of General Grant. 

anxious to avoid the further effusion of blood, sent 
to Lee the following communication : — 

April 7, 1S65. 
General : The result of the last week must con- 
vince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on 
the part of the army of northern Virginia in this strug- 
gle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to 
shift from myself the responsibility of any further effu- 
• sion of blood by asking of you the surrender of that 
portion of the Confederate States army known as the 
army of northern Virginia. 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General, 

To this Lee replied that he did not entertain Grant's 
opinion of the hopelessness of further resistance, but 
asked what terms would be offered. Grant promptly 
.and generously responded : — 

April 8, 1865. 
General : Your note of last evening, in reply to 
mine of same date, asking the conditions on which I 
will accept the surrender of the army of northern Vir- 
ginia, is just received. In reply, I would say that 
■peace being my great desire, there is but one condi- 
tion I would insist upon, namely, that the men and 
officers surrendered shall be disqualified for taking up 
arms again against the government of the United 
States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or 
will designate officers to meet any officers you may 
name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to 
you, for the purpose of arranging definitely the terms 
upon which the surrender of the army of northern 
Virginia will be received. 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General, • 



Lee's Surrender.. 119 

But Lee was disposed to quibble, and desired to make 
terms for the whole Confederacy. He said he did not 
propose to surrender, but wished to know whether 
Grant's proposals would lead to peace, and to that end 
he proposed a meeting. Grant, however, true to his 
soldierly; instincts, would assume no responsibility 
which did not belong to him as a military commander 
fighting the armed forces of the rebellion. He knew 
that with the government and not with him rested the 
authority and the duty of settling the final terms of 
peace and reconstruction, and he had already, on a 
former occasion, when requested by Lee, refused to 
assume any such authority to enter into a convention 
with the rebel government for the suspension of hos- 
tilities. He would only consent to the surrender of 
Lee's army upon terms which were liberal enough for 
the bravest foe, and which he wisely believed would 
terminate the great struggle. He therefore declined 
to meet Lee to discuss the terms of peace. 

Lee soon found that his case was more hopeless than 
he had been disposed to admit, and was forced to ask an 
interview to arrange the terms of surrender offered by 
Grant. The request was at once acceded to, and the in- 
terview took place near Appomattox Court-house, under 
a tree which has since been "cut' into toothpicks " as 
memorials of that important occasion; Lee came crest- 
fallen and humiliated, but with the 'bearing of a great 
commander, and the .formal courtesy of an aristocrat ; 
Grant" came quiet and unassuming, and with a repub- 
lican simplicity of manner. They had met before, but 
probably had never formed an acquaintance or ex- 
changed words. When Grant, an unknown subaltern, 



120 Life of General Grant. 

led a gallant charge at Chepultepec, Lee was a favorite 
on the staff of General Scott, and he had remained 
there till after secession had called for the preparations 
of war, and then, turning traitor to the government 
which had educated and honored him, carried the 
secrets of that government to its enemies, and joined 
them in their infamous rebellion. The subaltern who 
had once received only his contemptuous notice, was 
now his conqueror and the greatest general of America. 
The one had received the just rewards of patriotism, 
loyalty, and faithful service ; the other the humiliation, 
but not the punishment, of treason. 

The interview was not a protracted one. While the 
officers who accompanied their respective chiefs min- 
gled in conversation as pleasant as the circumstances 
would allow, the latter conversed apart. Lee's en- 
deavor to secure terms which should include the rebel 
government, and settle the conditions of peace, was 
firmly resisted by Grant, and the rebel officer was 
compelled to accept the simple but liberal terms of 
surrender which were offered, or see his wasting army 
utterly destroyed. With a sore heart he chose to sur- 
render, and with formal courtesies the officers parted. 
The terms were dictated and accepted in writing, and the 
surrender of that rebel army which had so long resisted 
the power of the nation was speedily carried into effect. 
"With the defeat and surrender of that army, the rebel 
Confederacy crumbled into dust. 

Thus Grant struck the final blow which crushed the 
rebellion. With what joy and exultation and thanks- 
giving that victory was received throughout the loyal 
states ! Bells rang and cannon thundered the glorious 



His Achievements. 121 

hews. Business, public and private, pleasure, and 
sorrow even, gave way to the universal jubilee. Mil- 
lions shouted praises to Grant and his victorious legions, 
his name blazed in illuminations in honor of the Union 
triumph, and he was enthusiastically hailed as the sec- 
ond savior of his country. 

And he was fully entitled to the honors and praises 
awarded to him by the grateful people. Not only had 
he achieved this decisive and crowning victory, but 
through the war he had struck more heavy and dam- 
aging blows than any other general in the army, and 
had done more than any other to weaken and subdue 
the rebel armies. At Donelson, at Shiloh, at Vicks- 
burg, and at Chattanooga, he had won great victories, 
which thrilled the loyal people with joy, and endeared 
him to their hearts. At Belmont, in the Wilderness, 
at Spottsylvania, and at Cold Harbor, he had struck 
so heavily and effectively as to stagger, if not defeat, 
the enemy, while never, in all his conflicts, had he 
been driven from the field or forced to retreat. More- 
over, under his direction, as commander of all the 
national armies, Sherman had won his victories in 
Georgia, made his "grand march to the sea," and 
moved through the Carolinas with unvaried success, 
to join in a final and irresistible campaign against the 
exhausted Confederacy ; Thomas had won his glorious 
victory at Nashville ; Canby had captured Mobile ; 
Terry had taken Fort Fisher and Wilmington ; and 
Sheridan had vanquished Early in the Valley of the 
Shenandoah. In the campaigns under his immediate 
command, he had captured more than a hundred 
thousand prisoners, and hundreds of cannon, while 



122 Life of General Grant. 

his subordinates, in the campaigns under his general 
direction, had taken as many more. Wherever he 
commanded, wherever his orders were received, 
wherever his influence was felt, he had organized 
victory, and moved on steadily to the final triumphs 



Sherman's Negotiations. 123 



CHAPTER IX. 

Sherman's Indiscretion. — His Negotiations, with Johnston disap- 
proved. — Grant sent to assume Direction of Sherman's Move- 
ments. — His Influence with Sherman, and his Friendship for him. 

— The most successful General of the Age: — His military Genius 
recognized at Home and Abroad.--- Thanks and Honors. — A new 
Grade established to reward him. — Appointed General of the 
Army. — Modest Wearing of his Honors. — Manifestation of pop- 
ular Admiration. — His Recognition of the Merits of his Subordi- 
nates and the Army. — No Napoleonic Airs. — Farewell Orders to 
the Armies. — Justice to the Soldiers of the East and of the West. 

— His Fidelity to his Soldiers. — Sharing their Hardships. — His 
Army always supplied. — His Men protected from Imposition. — 
The steam-boat Captain. — The Respect and Confidence of the 

. Army. 



T 



^HE surrender of Lee was soon followed by like 
submission of the other rebel armies. But John- 
ston, under instructions from the fugitive rebel govern- 
ment, attempted to gain from Sherman what Lee had 
failed to obtain from Grant,— a negotiation for the set- 
tlement of civil as well as military matters. Sherman, 
less prudent than Grant, and anxious to secure peace, 
agreed with Johnston upon terms which confessedly 
exceeded his authority, and which assumed to settle 
some political questions contrary to the principles on 
which the war had been necessarily conducted. More 
able as a soldier than he was as a politician or diploma- 
tist, he had agreed to terms which were considered by 



124 Life of General Grant. 

government and people entirely inadmissible, but hav- 
ing no intention of transcending his powers, he sent the 
terms to Washington for approval. 

The government was a little startled at the compre- 
hensive character of this agreement between one of its 
military officers and the representative of a suppressed 
rebellion, and it was at once repudiated, and Sherman 
was ordered to resume hostilities. The disapproval 
was prompt and curt, and General Grant was ordered 
to proceed to Sherman's headquarters and direct oper- 
ations against the enemy. Sherman, nervous and ex- 
citable, was indignant at the manner in which his well- 
disposed but mistaken measures were rejected, and he 
himself snubbed, and what he would have done in his 
anger and chagrin, had not Grant gone to him, can 
hardly be imagined. He was pretty sure to do some- 
thing to his own injury, however ; but Grant's presence 
saved him, and his steadfast friendship, and calm, dis- 
passionate words, allayed the excitement and anger of 
the brilliant general, and repaid him for his own kindly 
offices when Grant, for once, — and only once in his 
military career, — gave way to his feelings under a 
keen sense of injury. The manner in which he per- 
formed the duty required of him by the government 
illustrated Grant's generosity towards his subordinates, 
by carefully keeping in Sherman's hands the fruits of 
his brilliant operations, and giving him the entire credit 
of enforcing and receiving the surrender of Johnston. 

The great achievements by which he crushed the 
rebellion, and put an end to one of the fiercest wars of 
modern times, stamped Ulysses S. Grant as the most 
successful general of the age. His ability as a strate- 



Appointed General of the Army. 125 

gist and tactician, his power of combination and of 
execution, his talent for command, united with his en- 
ergy and persistency, in a word, his military genius, 
could no longer be doubted, and received the encomi- 
ums, not only of a grateful people, but of able soldiers 
and military critics abroad. Except Napoleon, no man 
of recent times had achieved so many brilliant suc- 
cesses, or accomplished such splendid results on so 
extended a field. 

The thanks of the government, of the states, of pop- 
ular assemblies, were freely tendered to him, and he 
received substantial tokens of public gratitude and pri- 
vate appreciation. Swords and medals were voted him 
by states, and among the more costly gifts presented 
to him, by private individuals, was an elegant house in 
Washington, completely furnished, an admirable libra- 
ry, and a munificent sum of money. These gifts were 
thrust upon him out of honest gratitude and admiration, 
and were accepted with a modest dignity characteristic 
of the man, and becoming his position and his relations 
to the givers. 

Subsequently, in July, 1866, upon reorganizing the 
army, in order to reward him by a higher honor than 
the service then allowed, the grade of General of the 
army, the highest rank yet created in the American 
service, was established by act of Congress, and in- 
vested with unusual powers. The rank was created 
expressly for the then Lieutenant General, and though 
President Johnson would have preferred to select an- 
other, the universal verdict of the people, and the 
unmistakable purpose of the act, compelled him to 
nominate Ulysses S. Grant. It is needless to add that 



126 Life of General Grant. 

the Senate promptly confirmed the nomination, and 
General Grant, by his own merits, and the gratitude 
and confidence of his country, holds a rank from 
which there can be but one promotion^ and that 
promotion will be made by the -people of the United 
States. 

The honors bestowed upon Grant were borne with a 
modesty equalled only by his ability and the greatness 
of his achievements. They came without his seeking ; 
they were accepted with a determination to be worthy 
of them. Making a private and unofficial tour to the 
east and west with his family in 1865, he was made 
aware of the gratitude and admiration of the people. 
He was everywhere received with the most enthusias- 
tic demonstrations which his private mode of travelling 
permitted. But everywhere he was the same quiet, 
unostentatious, unpretending soldier that he had been 
when he first entered the service as colonel in 1861, 
ever ready to give a hearty greeting to his comrades 
of the army,, and with republican simplicity courteous 
to all. His few speeches, in response to the popular 
demands, were brief and modest. But the people 
could see that with all his modesty he was self-reli- 
ant, clear-headed, brave, and firm in the discharge of 
his duties. 

While awarding the highest meed of praise to Gen- 
eral Grant, the country should never forget the able 
subordinates and the brave men to whom, with the 
chivalrous spirit of a true soldier, he had always at- 
tributed his successes. He assumed no Napoleonic 
airs, and made to them no grandiloquent and flattering 
speeches, but in all his reports and despatches he ac- 



Address to the Armies.: 127 

Jcnowledged their skill and bravery, and claimed for 
them the credit of the results. Before the grand 
armies were disbanded he issued the following ad- 
dress, which told, once for all, after all their battles 
were fought, and their toils ended,' and the victory 
won, the estimation in which he, speaking for the 
country, held them: — 

Soldiers of the Armies of the United States : 
By your patriotic devotion to your country in the hour 
of danger and alarm, your magnificent fighting, bravery, 
and endurance, you have maintained the supremacy of 
the Union and the Constitution, overthrown all armed 
opposition to. the enforcement of the laws and of the 
proclamations forever abolishing slavery, — the cause 
and pretext of the rebellion, — and opened the way to 
the rightful authorities to restore order and inaugurate 
peace on a permanent and enduring basis on every foot 
of American soil. Your marches, sieges, and battles, 
in distance » duration, resolution, and brilliancy of re- 
sults, dim the lustre of the world's past military achieve- 
ments, and will be the patriot's precedent in the de- 
fence of liberty and right in all time to come. In obe- 
dience to your country's call you left your homes and 
families, and volunteered in its defence. Victory has 
crowned your valor, and secured the purpose of your 
patriotic hearts ; and with the gratitude of your coun- 
trymen, and the highest honors a great and free nation 
Can accord, you will soon be permitted to return to your 
homes and families, conscious of having discharged the 
highest duty of American citizens. To achieve these 
glorious triumphs, and secure to yourselves, your 
fellow-countrymen, and posterity the blessings of free 
institutions, tens of thousands of your gallant comrades 
have fallen, and sealed the priceless legacy with their 
lives. The graves of these a grateful nation bedews 



128 Life of General Grant. 

with tears, honors their memories, and will ever cherish 
and support their stricken families. 

U. S. Grant, Lieutenant General. 

So in his final report of the war he spoke of the 
armies of the East and of the West with a just recog- 
nition of the services and valor of each, and with a 
patriotism which embraces the whole country and all 
the loyal people. " It has been my fortune to see the 
armies of both the West and the East fight battles ; and 
from what I have seen, I know there is no difference 
in their fighting qualities. All that it was possible for 
men to do in battle they have done. . . . The 
splendid achievements of each have nationalized our 
victories, removed all sectional jealousies (of which we 
have unfortunately experienced too much), and the 
cause of crimination and recrimination that might have 
followed had either section failed in its duty. All have 
a proud record, and all sections can well congratulate 
themselves and each other for having done their full 
share in restoring the supremacy of law over every 
foot of territory belonging to the United States. Let 
them hope for perpetual peace and harmony with that 
enemy, whose manhood, however mistaken the cause, 
drew forth such herculean deeds of valor." 

Not only did Grant thus recognize the bravery and 
endurance of the men who served under him, but 
through the war he was true to them as to his coun- 
try. He demanded of them hard service, but he was 
always ready to share their hardships and exposure. 
He counted himself as one of them. His language 
was, " More difficulties and privations are before us ; 



Fidelity to his Soldiers. 129 

let us endure them manfully. Other battles are to be 
fought ; let us fight them bravely." No luxuries for 
him. His headquarters often offered scarcely more 
comforts or better food than the tent of the private sol- 
dier ; and when he ordered the army to march " light," 
he set the example by reducing his own baggage to the 
smallest amount possible. He slept under a shelter- 
tent, or bivouacked with his men with the sky for a can- 
opy. At Shiloh, after the first day's battle, when he 
had personally given his orders for the attack the next 
morning, he lay down on the ground, with a stump 
for a pillow, and without shelter from the storm which 
raged, slept till the dawn called him again to unremit- 
ting labor. And he took good care of his men. He 
was always watchful over the quartermaster's and com- 
missary departments, and wherever he commanded 
supplies came promptly to hand. During the period 
that he commanded the army of the Tennessee it never 
was short of food ; and the only time when there was 
danger of such a condition, he promptly ascertained to 
what extent the rebel country would support his forces, 
and was one of the first to learn that important policy 
in the conduct of the war. He protected his men, too, 
from the imposition and excessive charges of sutlers 
by strict orders properly enforced ; and when a steam- 
boat captain, on the Mississippi, demanded an exorbi- 
tant sum for the passage of sick and wounded soldiers 
on their way home on furlough, he compelled him to 
refund the excess over a reasonable sum, at the risk 
of having his boat confiscated. " I will teach these fel- 
lows," said he, " that the men who have perilled their 

9 



130 Life of General Grant. 

lives to open the Mississippi for their benefit cannot be 
imposed upon with impunity." 

A commander so true to his men, and at the same 
time so able and successful as a general, could not but 
inspire them with respect, love, and confidence. He 
made no attempt to render himself popular, and never 
resorted to any clap-trap or pretence ; but in every- 
thing he did for his soldiers, as in everything he did 
for his country, he w r as in downright earnest, and they 
knew it. For this they will always love him, as for 
the victories to which he led them they will always 
honor him. 



The Return of Peace. 131 



CHAPTER X. 

After the War. — Generous to repentant Rebels. — Tour through the 
South. — Andrew Johnson's Usurpations. — Encouragement to the 
Rebels. — Grant's Measures to control the rebellious Spirit. — The 
New Orleans Riot. — Grant and Sheridan. — President Johnson's 
Tour. — Grant's Company ordered. — His Reticence and Escape. 

— Not to be caught again. — Confidence of Congress. — The mili- 
tary Districts and Commanders. — Execution of the Reconstruction 
Acts. — Grant's Firmness and Support of the Authority of Con- 
gress. — Johnson's Anger. — The General's Duties faithfully per- 
formed. — He anticipates Trouble. — Intrusted with extraordinary 
Power. — Johnson's Hostility. — Removal of Stanton. — Grant's 

- Protest. — Johnson's Obstinacy. — Grant Secretary of War ad in- 
terim. — His rare administrative Powers. — Removal of Sheridan. 

— Another Protest. — Removal of Sickles and Pope. — Grant the 
Defender of Congressional Policy. —Johnson's "little Game." — 
He misrepresents Grant. — Grant's Letter to the President. — 
Johnson's vulgar Hatred. — He maintains his Version. — Grant's 
Reply. — The People's Judgment. — Failure of the " little Game." 

— Consequences to Johnson. — Contrast between Grant and 
Johnson. 



'T^HE return of peace imposed new duties upon 
A General Grant, not, perhaps, so much to his 
taste as active employment in the field, but none the 
less faithfully performed. His headquarters were at 
Washington, where some of the citizens of the North, 
in gratitude for his great service to the country, pre- 
sented to him a spacious and well-furnished house, with 
an excellent library well supplied with military works, 
and adapted to the use of the commander of the armies. 



132 Life of General Grant. 

These and other free gifts from a grateful people were 
acknowledged with the quiet modesty characteristic of 
the man. 

He who had done so much to crush the rebellion, 
who knew the terrible cost of the war in blood and 
treasure, who had learned by experience the spirit of 
the rebels, like all true and patriotic soldiers did not 
wish to see all that blood and treasure wasted, and all 
the toils, burdens, and sufferings of those four long 
years borne in vain. If the rebels, humbled and pen- 
itent, would accept in good faith the results of their 
foolish and wicked contest, and seek to restore the 
Union upon a permanent basis of freedom and justice, 
he was disposed to treat them leniently. It was in the 
hope of securing such a disposition on the part of the 
rebels that he had granted magnanimous terms to Lee's 
army, and by that precedent to all the rebels in arms. 
When, not long after the war, he made a tour of in- 
spection at the South, he was encouraged by the con- 
duct of most of those with whom he came in contact 
to believe that the great majority of the late rebels did 
honestly accept the situation, and were read)' to submit 
to such conditions as the government might impose, in 
order to resume their relations with the Union, and re- 
store the exhausted resources of their states. Such, 
undoubtedly, at that time was the sentiment of these 
men, so utterly defeated in the field, ruined in prop- 
erty, and hopeless, except in the clemency of their 
conquerors. 

But Andrew Johnson, usurping the prerogatives of 
Congress, undertook to restore the rebel states accord- 
ing to what he denominated ff my policy," and destroyed 



Johnson's Policy. 133 

the fair prospect of a just settlement of the important 
questions involved in reconstruction. Without author- 
ity he appointed provisional governors, authorized con- 
ventions to frame constitutions, dictated who should 
vote, and on what conditions the states might be re- 
stored to the Union. And all this he did to secure to 
rebels and not to loyal men the power of reconstruction. 
He had declared that rebels " must take back seats," but 
he now pardoned them, and even appointed them pro- 
visional governors. He had promised to be the Moses 
of the colored race, but now all his efforts were directed 
to leading them back into virtual bondage. And that 
was the sum and substance of " my policy " — to restore 
all political power to the old slave-holding aristocrats 
who had risen in wicked rebellion, and to subject the col- 
ored race, who had been made freemen by the war and 
by amendment to the constitution, to a state of depen- 
dence and tutelage in no way better than slavery itself. 

Encouraged by favors they had no right to expect, 
the old spirit of the rebels was soon made manifest. 
They no longer accepted their condition as conquered 
enemies of the republic, but arrogantly demanded the 
rights of citizens. They showed their hatred of Union 
men, and sought to oppress the freedmen as they 
had oppressed their slaves, bringing on again a state 
little better than war in some portions of the South, and 
exciting a spirit no better than rebellion. 

General Grant had occasion to issue orders for the 
suppression of this rebellious spirit which grew out of 
Andrew Johnson's policy, and he became convinced 
that he had been deceived by the apparent humility of 
the rebels, or that the malignant spirit of the rebellion 



134 Life of General Grant. 

had become newly aroused by the action of the Presi-r 
dent, and could be controlled only by military authority. 
So far as the disposition of troops permitted, he gave 
orders for the protection of loyal white men and freed- 
men, and for the punishment of the atrocities of unre- 
pentant rebels. His influence and his action, as might 
be expected, were all on the side of law and order, and 
against the arrogant and vindictive spirit which exulted 
in cruelty and atrocity. 

Andrew Johnson's policy, and his direct communica- 
tions with the Louisiana rebels, encouraged them to the- 
most bitter opposition to the loyal element in that state, 
and caused the New Orleans riot of August, 1866, ■ 
when they wantonly attacked the members of the State 
Convention, which had previously framed a constitution, 
and reassembled according to the terms of its adjourn- 
ment. Whether the assembly was by proper authority 
or not, there was no justification for the bloody opposi-, 
tion manifested by the rebels, with Mayor Monroe and 
some of the state officials at their head. But the sup- 
port and encouragement which they received from the 
President led them to commit the outrages and murders 
by which loyal men, white and black, were assailed, 
hunted down, and killed. General 'Sheridan, who 
commanded the department, and who was absent at the 
time in Texas, was not disposed to tolerate the rule of 
that rebellious spirit which he had fought for four years, 
to conquer. He investigated the affair, and reported 
the atrocious spirit and acts of the rebels, and acting 
under the instructions of General Grant, he took meas- 
ures for the protection of loyal men, and watched the 
schemes of these still malignant rebels. lie was sus- 



The Presidential Tour. 135 

tained and strengthened by Grant, although the rebels 
appealed to the President, and received all the aid and 
comfort he dared to give them. Sheridan's firm and 
loyal conduct gave great satisfaction to the people of 
the North, except to those who were ready to join 
hands with the rebels against Congress. But it was 
due to Grant's firmness and fidelity to the principles 
which had triumphed over rebellion, that the army was 
not at New Orleans and elsewhere at the South actually 
ranged on the side of the rebels against loyal men. 

Soon after the New Orleans riot the President made 
his notable and notorious tour to the tomb of Douglas ; : 
and in order to create as much popular enthusiasm as 
possible, he invited, in the form of a command, General 
Grant and Admiral Farragut to join the presidential 
party. His course on that journey, " swinging round 
the circle," and making vulgar, undignified, and seditious 
speeches, must have disgusted these two patriotic vet- 
erans. Their presence served to bring out vast crowds, 
whose cheers the President was conceited enough to 
imagine were tributes to himself. But on more than 
one occasion it was made evident that the crowd came 
to cheer Grant and Farragut, and not Johnson, — the 
heroes who had conquered the rebels, and not the ren- 
egade who sought to restore them to power. Grant 
modestly acknowledged the honors offered him, but 
made no speeches, knowing that silence, after John- 
son's tirades, was more eloquent and becoming than 
words. 

Notwithstanding Secretary Seward's repeated insin- 
uations that Grant supported and approved Johnson's 
policy, and his declaration that "General Grant can- 



136 Life of General Grant. 

not be separated from the President," the general im- 
proved the first favorable opportunity to leave the party. 
He had no taste for " shows ; ,: he was indignant that he 
should be used to give eclat to the President's political 
tour, and be placed in a false light before the country ; 
and he was disgusted with* that functionary's vulgar 
manners and malignant speeches. He determined that 
he would no longer be subject to the imputation of op- 
posing Congress and the will of the loyal people, and 
that he would not again be caught in such unworthy 
company. While the President, the next year, was 
on his tour to Boston, Grant returned to Washington 
from a visit to West Point. On the cars he met some 
ladies, who remarked upon his not being one of the 
President's party. "I was not invited," said the gen- 
eral, dryly, "and had I been, I should not have ac- 
cepted the invitation." 

When Congress assumed the prerogative which be- 
longed to it, and prescribed the terms and conditions 
on which the rebel states might be restored to their 
relations with the Union ; when it saw the necessity of 
affording protection to the freedmen against the oppres- 
sion and outrages of their late masters and rebel oppo- 
nents of emancipation, it was found necessary to use the 
military power to secure the desired results. Andrew 
Johnson had vetoed the :r civil rights bill," designed to 
protect the freedmen ; he had denounced, opposed, and 
almost undertaken to veto the fourteenth article of 
Amendments to the Constitution, which was designed 
as a basis of restoration of the states, and he had so 
indicated his hostility to Congress and to its policy, 
which was the policy of the people who had carried 



Grant and Reconstruction. 137 

through the war, that it was necessary to provide for 
some executive power as far as possible free from the 
interference of his wrong-headed will. General Grant 
had given such evidence of his adherence to the policy 
on which the war had been carried through, and of his 
obedience to law, that Congress saw in him, as the 
head of the army, the officer whose authority and in- 
fluence would aid in the execution of its laws, and 
oppose a barrier to the schemes by which the President 
sought to restore the rebels to power. 

The rebel states were divided into five military dis- 
tricts, each to be commanded by a major-general. 
These officers were selected by Grant, though ap- 
pointed to those places by the President, and in 
making the selection he took those whom he knew to 
be faithful to the policy on which the rebellion had 
been suppressed, and opposed to the restoration of 
rebels to power. Schofield, Sickles, Thomas, Ord, 
and Sheridan were the officers appointed to the several 
districts ; but Thomas, desiring to remain in command 
in Kentucky and Tennessee, Pope was designated in 
his place. The authority of these commanders was 
great, but their acts were subject to the approval or 
disapproval of General Grant, who thus had the re- 
sponsibility of the execution of the laws and the exercise 
of military power in the rebel states, so far as such 
responsibility could be separated from the President. 
It was necessary that this should be done in order to 
remove " impediments " to reconstruction, and to restrain 
the greatest of all impediments, Andrew Johnson, from 
thwarting the will of the people as expressed in the 
just measures of Congress. The result proved that 



138 Life of General Grant. 

the confidence of Congress and the people was not 
misplaced. 

That the reconstruction acts were executed with any 
degree of fidelity and success, was due chiefly to Gen- 
eral Grant. From him emanated the general instruc- 
tions under which the military commanders acted, and 
with him rested the power to revoke or approve their 
acts. Like their superior, the commanders who were 
first designated for the several districts were faithful to 
the principles upon which they had fought through the 
war. They were obedient to the law, and knowing 
the spirit of those who opposed it, they were watchful 
and energetic in the peiformance of their duties. Had 
they been under the discretionary orders of the Presi- 
dent, and consented to be the instruments of his will, 
no principle of reconstruction determined upon by Con- 
gress would have been carried out. Mr. Johnson's 
influence was constantly exerted against congressional 
reconstruction in every way in which he could make it 
felt ; and his well-known bitter hostility to negro suf- 
frage, his avowed hatred of the "radical " Congress, 
and his language and promise in his frequent conversa- 
tions with the unsubmissive rebels who went to Wash- 
ington to misrepresent the condition of southern affairs, 
and to secure his aid to their plans for thwarting" the 
will of Congress, did more than anything else to pre- 
vent an early settlement, and rendered the duties of the 
military commanders more arduous. 

But for the firmness of Grant, the influence of the 
President, and his rebel and Democratic supporters, 
might have been more disastrous. The general was 
determined to carry out the provisions of the law, so 



Supports the Policy of the Loyal North. 139 

far as it was intrusted to the military authorities, 
whether it clashed with the purposes of Andrew John- 
son and the. rebels or not ; and his subordinates, equal- 
ly obedient to the law, and inspired and sustained by 
him, acted promptly and fearlessly. This conduct of 
Grant, and the military commanders, excited the anger 
of Johnson, who has always hated those who opposed 
his will and his opinions. Their removal of rebel civil 
officers, in governments which were merely tolerated 
till new and permanent governments could be estab- 
lished, were especially objectionable to him. Their 
full recognition of the rights of negroes, as secured by 
the reconstruction acts, was unpardonable. That they 
could act independently of him, and in opposition to 
his f policy," was intolerable. Their popularity with 
the people of the North, not only for their faithful ser- 
vice in reconstruction, but for their brilliant victories 
and brave deeds during the war, was an additional 
annoyance, for he did not dare to do what he most de- 
sired, and remove them all at once to make way for his 
tools, if he could find any. 

Regardless, however, of Mr. Johnson's ill temper, 
Grant quietly performed his duties under the laws 
of Congress, and as commander of the army mani- 
festing the same subordination to legitimate authority, 
and the same steady support of the policy of the loyal 
North, which he had shown during the war. He made 
no public declarations of his views, and did not under- 
take to construe the laws to suit any theory of his own, 
but executed them according to their plain intent and 
purpose. As a soldier, he abstained from a frequent 
expression of his political opinions, and his constitu- 



i/j.o Life of General Grant. 

tional reticence made him appear still more cautious in 
that respect. But in private, among his friends, he did 
not hesitate to avow his sentiments, and those who 
knew him best were assured of his sympathy with the 
prevailing sentiment of the North, while his official 
acts satisfied even the. most exacting. He won the 
entire confidence of Congress as an officer faithful in 
the administration of law as he had been able in his 
conduct of the war, and they saw in him the firm sup- 
porter of the laws, a barrier against the usurpations 
and schemes of the Executive to oppose and nullify the 
will of the people, as expressed by their representa- 
tives. 

The bad temper, threatening language, and unscru- 
pulous conduct of Andrew Johnson, foreboded trouble 
in some shape as soon as Congress adjourned, and the 
danger of impeachment, which was then first agitated, 
should not be imminent. So satisfied was Grant that 
the President intended to defeat the will of Congress in 
its reconstruction policy, if not even to do something 
worse, that he urged members of Congress not to ad- 
journ without provision for reassembling in case of an 
emergency. Congress, though it made a partial pro- 
vision of this kind, relied chiefly upon the passage of 
laws to restrain the President. The reconstruction act 
was amended in spite of a veto, and the tenure of 
office act was passed, designed, among other things, to 
prevent the removal of Mr. Stanton, who alone, in the 
cabinet, supported the congressional policy. Another 
act provided that the general of the army should al- 
ways have his headquarters at Washington, that he 
should not be ordered elsewhere, nor be removed, ex- 



Opposed to Andrew Johnson's Schemes. 141 

cept with the consent of the Senate, while all military 
orders were to be issued through his headquarters. 

That Grant should thus be intrusted with extraordi- 
nary powers for the safety of the republic, as well as 
for the reconstruction of the rebel states, shows how 
strong was the faith of Congress in his integrity and 
fidelity to law and principle. The confidence of Con- 
gress was fully shared by the people, among whom he 
was regarded as the man for the next President, — a des- 
ignation which made him doubly obnoxious to Johnson. 
Grant was too strong in the popular estimation, as well 
as in his position by law, for Mr. Johnson openly to 
quarrel with him, or to seek to remove him, however 
much he desired to do so. But bitter in his hostility to 
Congress, and to the faithful agents of its will, the 
President determined to do all he could to prevent the 
success of the congressional policy, and indirectly to 
assail or damage Grant. His purpose, soon made 
manifest, was to remove or suspend Secretary Stanton, 
whom he hated, and to put Grant in his place ad inter- 
im, and then to remove those military commanders at 
the South who were the most efficient in their execu- 
tion of the reconstruction law r s, and who were most 
highly esteemed and heartily approved by the general. 
In this way Mr. Johnson, while carrying out his policy 
of obstruction, hoped also to place General Grant in a 
false position, as the instrument of these removals, and 
to shake, if not destroy, the confidence of Congress 
and the people in him. To snub the general, by re- 
moving those who had obeyed his instructions, was 
another pleasant intention of this high-minded Presi- 
dent. 



142 Life of General Grant. 

But General Grant, though always subordinate as an 
officer, could not see such open disregard of the law, 
and such hostility to the will of the law r -making power, 
without a protest, and when the purpose was an- 
nounced to him, he addressed to the President the 
following letter, which shows his respect for law, his 
fidelity to principle, and his honest independence. 

Headquarters Armies of the United States, 7 
Washington, D. C, August 1, 1S67. ) 

Sir : I take the liberty of addressing you privately 
on the subject of the conversation we had this morn- 
ing, feeling, as I do, the great danger to the welfare of 
the country should you carry out the designs then ex- 
pressed. 

First. On the subject of the displacement of the 
Secretary of War. His removal cannot be effected 
against his will without the consent of the Senate. It 
is but a short time since the United States Senate was 
in session, and why not then have asked for his removal 
if it was desired? It certainly was the intention of the 
legislative branch of government to place cabinet min- 
isters beyond the power of executive removal, and it 
is pretty well understood that, so far as cabinet minis- 
ters are affected by the " tenure of office bill," it was 
intended specially to protect the Secretary of War, 
whom the country felt great confidence in. The mean- 
ing of the law may be explained away by an astute 
lawyer, but common sense, and the views of the loyal 
people, will give to it the effect intended by its framers. 

On the subject of the removal of the very able com- 
mander of the fifth military district, let me ask you to 
consider the effect it would have upon the public. He 
is universally and deservedly beloved by the people 
who sustained this government through its trials, and 
feared by those who would still be enemies of the 



Patriotic Appeal to the President. 143 

government. It fell to the lot of but few men to 
do as much against an armed enemy as General 
Sheridan did during the rebellion, and it is within 
the scope of the ability of but few in this or any other 
country to do what he has. His civil administration 
has given equal satisfaction. He has had difficulties 
to contend with which no other district commander has 
encountered. Almost if not quite from the day he was 
appointed district commander to the present time, the 
press has given out that he was to be removed ; that 
the administration was dissatisfied with him, &c. This 
has emboldened the opponents to the laws of Congress 
within his command to oppose him in every way in 
their power, and has rendered necessary measures 
which otherwise may never have been necessary. In 
conclusion, allow me to say, as a friend desiring peace 
and quiet, the welfare of the whole country north and 
south, that it is in my opinion more than the loyal people 
of this country (I mean those who supported the gov- 
ernment during the great rebellion) will quietly submit 
to, to see the very men of all others whom they have 
expressed confidence in removed. . 

I would not have taken the liberty of addressing the 
Executive of the United States thus but for the conver- 
sation on the subject alluded to in this letter, and from 
a sense of duty, feeling that I know I am right in this 
matter. 

With great respect, your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, General. 
His Excellency A. Johnson, 

President of the United States. 

But neither reason nor the patriotic appeal of the 
foremost soldier of the country could prevail against 
the obstinate ill will of the President, and on the 12th 
of August he issued an order suspending Secretary 



144 Life of General Grant. 

Stanton, and appointing General Grant Secretary of 
War ad interim. The general and the secretary were 
on the best of terms, and were agreed in their support 
of the congressional policy of reconstruction. While 
Mr. Stanton protested against the action of the Presi- 
dent, there was no one to whom he would more 
readily yield the place than to Grant. And the gen- 
eral, who cordially expressed his * appreciation of the 
zeal, patriotism, firmness, and ability" with which Mr. 
Stanton had ever discharged the duties of Secretary of 
War, accepted the position in order that the department 
might still be administered in the interests of loyalty 
and the enforcement of the laws, and not be made the 
instrument of Andrew Johnson in opposing Congress 
and encouraging rebels. 

Whatever might have been the motive of Mr. John- 
son in appointing Grant, the people knew enough of 
that functionary to believe that it was not an honest 
desire to promote the welfare of the country. But it 
had an effect which was probably not intended, as it 
had a result which was not anticipated. If at first any 
doubts arose as to Grant's fidelity to the principles 
which he had hitherto supported, they were dispelled 
as soon as the facts connected with his appointment 
were known ; and any fears for his capacity for civil 
office were also as speedilv and certainly removed. 
The administration of the war department with regard 
to reconstruction was not changed, and its affairs were 
conducted with an energy, ability, and spirit of econo- 
my, which proved that General Granfs rare adminis- 
trative and executive talent was none the less suited to 
the discharge of civil duties than to the conduct of 
m Hit a r y affa irs . 



Protest against Sheridan's Removal. 145 

General Grant had been but five days the acting 
Secretary of War, when Johnson commenced the other 
part oT his programme, by issuing an order for the re- 
moval of General Sheridan from the command of the 
fifth military district, and for the assignment of General 
Thomas to that position. Being asked if he had any 
suggestions to make concerning this assignment, Gen- 
eral Grant again protested against the movement as 
follows : — 

Headquarters Armies of the United States, ) 
Washington, D. C, August 17, 1S67. $ 

• ••••• 

I am pleased to avail myself of this invitation to urge, 
earnestly urge, urge in the name of a patriotic people, 
who have sacrificed hundreds of thousands of loyal lives 
and thousands of millions of treasure to preserve the 
integrity and union of this country, that this order be 
not insisted on. It is unmistakably the expressed wish 
of the country that General Sheridan should not be re- 
moved from his present command. 

This is a republic, where the will of the people is 
the law of the land. I beg that their voice may be 
heard. 

General Sheridan has performed his civil duties 
faithfully and intelligently. His removal will only be 
regarded as an effort to defeat the laws of Congress. 
It will be interpreted by the unreconstructed element in 
the South, those who did all they could to break up this 
government by arms, and now wish to be the only ele- 
ment consulted as to the method of restoring order, as 
a triumph. It will embolden them to renewed opposi- 
tion to the will of the loyal masses, believing that they 
have the Executive with them. 

The services of General Thomas in battling for the 
Union entitle him to some consideration. He has re- 

10 



ia6 Life of General Grant. 

peatedly entered his protest against being assigned to 
either of the five military districts, and especially to 
being assigned to relieve General Sheridan.- 

There are military reasons, pecuniary reasons, and, 
above all, patriotic reasons, why this should not be in- 
sisted upon. 

I beg to refer to a letter marked " private " which I 
wrote to the President, when first consulted on the 
subject of the change in the War Department. It bears 
upon the subject of this removal, and I had hoped 
would have prevented it. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, 
Your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, General U. S. A., 

Secretary of War ad interim. 
His Excellency A. Johnson, 

President of the United States. 

4 

The President, however, persisted in his encourage- 
ment to the unreformed rebels by removing General 
Sheridan, and as General Thomas's health would not 
justify his being sent to New Orleans, General Hancock 
was appointed in his place. On the same clay General 
Sickles was removed, because he, like Sheridan, car- 
ried out the reconstruction acts in the interest of loyalty, 
and General Canby was ordered to succeed him. And 
subsequently, for similar reasons, General Pope was 
removed, and General Meade assigned as his succes- 
sor. In making these changes, except so far as his 
petty ill will was gratified, Mr. Johnson must have been 
disappointed. For all the new commanders, except 
Hancock, honestly and faithfully administered the re- 
construction laws in accordance with their plain intent 
and meaning", and with the general instructions of 



Supports the Policy of Congress. 147 

Grant ; and though Hancock was in some way de- 
moralized, and became, perhaps unwittingly, the tool 
of the President in fostering the rebel element in New 
Orleans, most of his retrograde and unjustifiable orders 
were promptly revoked by Grant, not a little to the 
President's annovance. 

In all this, and in many other less apparent ways, 
General Grant has been the defender and enforcer of 
the congressional policy of reconstruction, which is the 
policy of the people who fought through the war and put 
down the rebellion. Faithful to the principles for which 
the North with so m ny sacrifices contended, and faith- 
ful to the memory of the thousands who laid down their 
lives for the suppression of the rebellion and its infa- 
mous spirit, he could neither be bullied, nor coaxed, 
nor deceived into a policy which should restore rebels 
to power and place loyal men under their heel. He 
has been, too, a barrier to the possible schemes of folly 
and madness which Andrew Johnson is said to have 
contemplated. His very presence at Washington, as 
commander of the army, has been the safety of the 
republic, and a constant intimidation to rebels, and to 
any executive usurpation in the interest of rebels. 

When the regular session of Congress commenced in 
December, 1867, and Mr. Johnson, complying in one 
respect with a law which he assumed to declare uncon- 
stitutional and void, sent to the Senate his reasons for 
suspending Secretary Stanton, his "little game" was 
made apparent. The Senate refused its consent to the 
removal of Mr. Stanton, and, according to the intent 
of the law, he was immediately reinstated. General 
Grant, now as always obedient to the law, recognized 



i/j.8 Life of General Grant. 

the action of the Senate as itself a reinstatement of 
the secretary, and notifying the President of the fact, 
vacated the office. Mr. Johnson, baffled and angry, 
made known through some of his favorite correspond- 
ents of the press, his own schemes to thwart the will 
of Congress, in which he made it appear that General 
Grant had been a willing and active participant, but 
had finally been guilty of falsehood and deception, and 
had allowed Mr. Stanton to resume the war office in 
violation of his express promises. The substance of 
the statement was, in brief, that General Grant had 
promised the President that he would either hold on to 
the office of Secretary of War and resist the reinstate- 
ment of Mr. Stanton by the Senate, or, if he should 
change his mind and prefer not to be a party to the 
controversy, would resign, and thus enable the Presi- 
dent to appoint some one who would be his tool ; that 
on the Saturday previous to Stanton's reinstatement 
Grant virtually repeated this promise, and also prom- 
ised to see the President on the following Monday, 
but failed to do so ; and that at a cabinet meeting, 
being asked if he had not made such promises and 
broken them, he admitted that he had ! The newspa- 
per account, of course, did not fail to color the picture 
to Grant's disadvantage. 

This story was published to gratify the vulgar hatred 
of Mr. Johnson, and with the hope of alarming the 
Republican party, and so damaging the general's repu- 
tation that the people would not accept him as a candi- 
date for the Presidency. It w r as intended also to divert 
attention from Mr. Johnson's own guilty purposes. So 
mean a game was never before played by an occupant 



Refutes Andrew Johnson's Stories. 149 

of the White House, nor indeed by any politician of re- 
spectability and position. But it did not succeed. Gen- 
eral Grant, whose conduct through all his career had 
been straightforward, honest, and obedient to law, could 
not in decency submit to the imputations authorized by 
a President of the United States, although he was a 
man in whom, notwithstanding his high office, the 
country had learned to put little confidence. He ad- 
dressed to the President the following letter, which 
palpably states the truth : — 

Headquarters Army of the United States, ) 
Washington, D. C, January 28, 1S6S. ) 

Sir : On the 24th instant, I requested you to give 
me in writing the instructions which you had previously 
given me verbally, not to obey any order from Hon. 
E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, unless I knew that 
it came from yourself. To this written request I re- 
ceived a message that has left doubt in my mind of 
your intentions. To prevent any possible misunder- 
standing, therefore, I renew the request that you will 
give me written instructions, and, till they are received, 
will suspend action on your verbal ones. 

I am compelled to ask these instructions in writing, 
in consequence of the many and gross misrepresenta- 
tions, affecting my personal honor, circulated through 
the press for the last fortnight, purporting to come 
from the President, of conversations which occurred 
either with the President privately in his office, or in 
cabinet meeting. What is written admits of no mis- 
understanding". 

In view of the misrepresentations referred to, it will 
be well to state the facts in the case. 

Some time after I assumed the duties of Secretary 
of War ad interim, the President asked me my views 
as to the course Mr. Stanton would have to pursue, in 



150 Life of General Grant. 

case the Senate should not concur in his suspension, to 
obtain possession of his office. My reply was, in sub- 
stance, that Mr. Stanton would have to appeal to the 
courts to reinstate him, illustrating my position by citing 
the ground I had taken in the case of the Baltimore 
police commissioners. 

In that case I did not doubt the technical right of 
Governor Swann to remove the old commissioners and 
to appoint their successors. As the old commissioners 
refused to give up, however, I contended that no re- 
source was left but to appeal to the courts. 

Finding that the President was desirous of keeping 
Mr. Stanton out of office, whether sustained in the 
suspension or not, I stated that I had not looked par- 
ticularly into the tenure of office bill, but that what I 
had stated was a general principle, and if I should 
change my mind in this particular case, I would in- 
form him of the fact. 

Subsequently, on reading the tenure of office bill 
closely, I found that I could not, without violation of 
the law, refuse to vacate the office of Secretary of War 
the moment Mr. Stanton was reinstated by the Senate, 
even though the President should order me to retain it, 
which he never did. 

Taking this view of the subject, and learning on 
Saturday, the nth instant, that the Senate had taken 
up the subject of Mr. Stanton's suspension, after some 
conversation with Lieutenant General Sherman and 
some members of my staff, in which I stated that the 
law left me no discretion as to my action, should Mr. 
Stanton be reinstated, and that I intended to inform the 
President, I went to the President for the sole purpose 
of making this decision known, and did so make it 
known. 

In doing this I fulfilled the promise made in our last 
preceding conversation on the subject. 

The President, however, instead of accepting my 



A Truthful Statement. 151 

view of the requirements of the tenure of office bill, 
contended that he had suspended Mr. Stanton under 
the authority given by the constitution, and that the 
same authority did not preclude him from reporting, as 
an act of courtesy, his reasons for the suspension to the 
Senate. That, having appointed me under the au- 
thority given by the constitution, and not under any 
act of Congress, I could not be governed by the act. 
I stated that the law was binding on me, constitutional 
or not, until set aside by the proper tribunal. An hour 
or more was consumed, each reiterating his views on 
this subject, until, getting late, the President said he 
would see me again. 

I did not agree to call again on Monday, nor at any 
other definite time, nor was I Sent for by the President 
until the following Tuesday. 

From the nth to the cabinet meeting on the 14th 
instant, a doubt never entered my mind about the 
President's fully understanding my position, namely, 
that if the Senate refused to concur in the suspension 
of Mr. Stanton, my powers as Secretary of War ad 
interim would cease, and Mr. Stanton's right to resume 
at once the functions of his office would under the law 
be indisputable, and I acted accordingly. With Mr. 
Stanton I had no communication, direct nor indirect, 
on the subject of his reinstatement, during his sus- 
pension. 

I knew it had been recommended to the President to 
send in the name of Governor Cox, of Ohio, for Sec- 
retary of War, and thus save all embarrassment — a 
proposition that I sincerely hoped he would entertain 
favorably ; General Sherman seeing the President at 
my particular request to urge this, on the 13th instant. 

On Tuesday (the day Mr. Stanton reentered the 
office of the Secretary of War) General Comstock, 
who had carried my official letter announcing that, 
with Mr. Stanton's reinstatement by the Senate, I had 



152 Life of General Grant. 

ceased to be Secretary of War ad interim, and who 
saw the President open and read the communication, 
brought back to me from the President a message that 
he wanted to see me that day at the cabinet meeting, 
after I had made known the fact that I was no longer 
Secretary of War ad interim. 

At this meeting, after opening it as though I were a 
member of the cabinet, when reminded of the notifica- 
tion already given him that I was no longer Secretary 
of War ad interim, the President gave a version of the 
conversations alluded to already. In this statement it 
was asserted that in both conversations I had agreed to 
hold on to the office of Secretary of War until displaced 
by the courts, or resign, so as to place the President 
where he would have been had I never accepted the 
office. After hearing the President through, I stated 
our conversations substantially as given in this letter. 
I will add that my conversation before the cabinet em- 
braced other matter not pertinent here, and is therefore 
left out. 

I in nowise admitted the correctness of the Presi- 
dent's statement of our conversations, though, to soften 
the evident contradiction my statement gave, I said 
(alluding to our first conversation on the subject) the 
President might have understood me the way he said, 
namely, that I had promised to resign if I did not resist 
the reinstatement. I made no such promise. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, General. 

His Excellency A. Johnson, 

President of the United States. 

Mr. Johnson replied, repeating what he had before 
published through newspapers hostile to Grant and 
Congress, and adding that four members of the cabi- 



The Truth Reiterated. 15 



•-> 



net concurred in the general accuracy of the published 
statement. This called out the following manly and 
honest response from General Grant : — 

Headquarters Army of the United States, ) 
Washington, D. C, February 3, 1868. • > 

Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt 
of your communication of the 31st ultimo, in answer 
to mine of the 28th ultimo.. After a careful reading 
.and comparison of it with the article in the National 
Intelligencer of the 15th ultimo, and the article over 
the initials J. B. S., in the New York World of the 
27th ultimo, purporting to be based upon your state- 
ment and that of the members of your cabinet therein 
named, I find it to be but a reiteration, only somewhat 
more in detail, of the "many and gross misrepresenta- 
tions" contained in these articles, and which my state- 
ment of the facts set forth in my letter of the 28th 
ultimo was intended to correct'; and I here reassert the 
correctness of my statements in that letter, anything in 
yours in reply to it to the contrary notwithstanding. 

I confess my surprise that the cabinet officers referred 
to should so greatly misapprehend the facts in the mat- 
ter of admissions alleged to have been made by me at 
the cabinet meeting of the 14th ultimo as to suffer their 
names to be made the basis of the charges in the 
newspaper article referred to, or agree in the accu- 
racy, as you affirm they do, of your account of what 
occurred at that meeting. 

You know that we parted on Saturday, the nth 
ultimo, without any promise on my part, either express 
or implied, to the effect that I would hold on to the 
office of Secretary of War ad interim against the action 
of the Senate, or, declining to do so myself, would 
surrender it to }'ou before such action was had, or 
that I would see you again at any fixed time on the 
subject. 



154 Life of General Grant. 

The performance of the promises alleged by you to 
have been made by me would have involved a resistance 
to law, and an inconsistency with the whole history of 
my connection with the suspension of Mr. Stanton. 

From our conversations, and my written protest of 
August i, 1867, against the removal of -Mr. Stanton, 
you must have known that my greatest objection to his 
removal or suspension was the fear that some one would 
be appointed in his stead who would, by opposition to 
the laws relating to the restoration of the Southern 
States to their proper relations to the government, em- 
barrass the army in the performance of duties especially 
imposed upon it by these laws; and it was to prevent 
such an appointment that I accepted the office of Sec- 
retary of War ad interim, and not for the purpose of 
enabling you to get rid of Mr. Stanton by my with- 
holding it from him in opposition to law, or not doing 
so myself, surrendering it to one who would, as the state- 
ment and assumptions in your communication plainly 
indicate was sought. And it was to avoid this same 
danger, as well as to relieve you from the personal 
embarrassment in which Mr. Stanton's reinstatement 
would place you, that I urged the appointment of 
Governor Cox, believing that it would be agreeable 
to you and also to Mr. Stanton — satisfied, as I was, 
that it was the good of the country, and not the office, 
the latter desired. 

On the 15th ultimo, in presence of General Sher- 
man, I stated to you that I thought Mr. Stanton would 
resign, but did not say that I would advise him to do 
so. On the 18th I did agree with General Sherman to 
go and advise him to that course, and on the 19th I 
had an interview alone with Mr. Stanton, which led 
me to the conclusion that any advice to him of the 
kind would be useless, and I so informed General 
Sherman. 

Before I consented to advise Mr. Stanton to resign, 
I understood from him, in a conversation on the sub- 



Defends his Honor. 155 

ject immediately after his reinstatement, that it was his 
opinion that the act of Congress, entitled "An act tem- 
porarily to supply vacancies in the executive depart- 
ments in certain cases," approved February 20, 1863, 
was repealed by subsequent legislation, which materi- 
ally influenced my action. Previous to this time I had 
had no doubt that the law of 1863 was still in force, 
and notwithstanding my action, a fuller examination 
of the law leaves a question in my mind whether it is 
or is not repealed. This being the case, I could not 
now advise his resignation, lest the same danger I ap- 
prehended on his first removal might follow. 

The course you would have it understood I agreed 
to pursue was in violation of law, and without orders 
from you ; while the course I did pursue, and which I 
never doubted you fully understood, was in accordance 
with law, and not in disobedience of any orders of nry 
superior. 

And now, Mr. President, when my honor as a sol- 
dier and integrity as a man have been so violently 
assailed, pardon me for saying that I can but regard 
this whole matter, from the beginning to the end, as 
an attempt to involve me in the resistance of law, for 
which you hesitated to assume the responsibility in 
orders, and thus to destroy my character before the 
country. I am in a measure confirmed in this conclu- 
sion by your recent orders directing me to disobey 
orders from the Secretary of War, — my superior and 
your subordinate, — without having countermanded his 
authority to issue the orders I am to disobey. 

With the assurance, Mr. President, that nothing less 
than a vindication of my personal honor and character 
could have induced this correspondence on my part, 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 

U. S. Grant, General. 

His Excellency A. Johnson, 

President of the United States. 



156 Life of General Grant. 

The President reiterated his version of the affair, 
with the further charge against Grant of insubordina- 
tion ; and he undertook to substantiate his statements 
by the certificates of five members of the cabinet. But 
it is significant, that of these indorsers of presidential 
veracity, those who are of the least political conse- 
quence, and the most obsequious followers of Mr. John- 
son, give the briefest and most emphatic certificates 
of his correctness ; while those who chose to exercise 
their own memory, though they do not contradict the 
President, whom they felt compelled to sustain, really 
show that General Grant's statement was the true one. 
Certainly every unprejudiced reader could not but be- 
lieve the plain, straightforward, soldierly declarations 
of General Grant, which accord with his well-known 
character and acts, rather than the disingenuous state- 
ments of Andrew Johnson, who was bent upon disobey- 
ing law, and defying Congress, and was trying to force 
a loval officer to share his guilt. 

When the correspondence was placed before the 
people, they speedily rendered a verdict in favor of the 
tried and honest soldier. They saw that his fidelity to 
the country in time of peace, against the wily schemes 
of an unscrupulous executive, was as firm and true as 
it had been in war when contending against the armed 
forces of the rebellion. And Mr. Johnson had the sat- 
isfaction of seeing his little game of damaging Grant's 
reputation no more successful than his malignant and 
unlawful attempt to get rid of Stanton ; for the general 
was only the more firmly fixed in the regards of the 
people, and all the more trusted by Congress. On 
the other hand, the unexpected result of Mr. Johnson's 



Contrast between Grant and Johnson. 157 

schemes soon followed this correspondence ; for, con- 
tinuing in his folly and madness, he boldly defied the 
law, and was impeached for high crimes and misde- 
meanors. 

The contrast presented by Grant to Johnson is just 
what the country now needs in its chief executive in 
order to secure peace, stability, the legitimate fruits of 
a costly victory, and the sure return of prosperity. 
While Johnson, for his scandalous degradation of his 
high office, wrong-headed defiance of law, opposition 
to the will of the loyal people, and political apostasy, 
will be consigned to obscurity or infamy, Grant will be 
honored for his modest dignity, strict obedience to law, 
respect for the people, and fidelity to principle. 



158 Life of General Grant. 



, CHAPTER XI. 

Grant's Character. — His intellectual Ability proved. — Insight into 
the Character of others. — Wise Selection of Agents.— Tenacity of 
Purpose. — Firmness. — Obedience to Law. — Respect for the Will 
of the People. — Qualifications for high Positions. — Generosity 
to his Subordinates. — Reticence. — An inquisitive Visitor alarmed. 
— Judicious Silence at Washington. — No Speech-maker. — The 
Advantage of his Reticence. — Not repulsive or inaccessible.— 
Republican Simplicity. — No Taste for Display or Etiquette. — Two 
Weaknesses: Smoking, and 'driving Horses. — An Inveterate 
Smoker. —A Yankee Habit. — Horses and Fast Driving. — A 
false Accusation. — An Invention of Enemies. — His Features 
and Appearance. — Conclusion. 

THE leading traits of General Grant's character 
have been indicated in the foregoing sketch of 
his career, but it may be well to group together some 
of the characteristics and habits which go to make up 
the man who now holds so prominent a position before 
the American people. 

His intellectual ability, which early in the war was 
not appreciated nor even admitted among those who 
measured such ability by scholarship or brilliant suc- 
cess in some civil pursuit, has been fully proved. It 
only required the opportunities of war to develop itself, 
so that it should tower above his modesty, his unde- 
monstrative manner, and retiring habits. After his 
successful campaigns, planned and executed with so 
much of skill and persistency ; after Vicksburg, and 



Insight into Character. 159 

Chattanooga, and Richmond ; after the skilful direc- 
tion of movements on the most extended field of war 
which ever came under the supervision of one man, 
his intellectual ability cannot be questioned. Though 
not of a type to be called into exercise under ordinary 
circumstances, or rather being accompanied by traits 
of character which prevented its being called into 
exercise except under extraordinary pressure, it has 
proved itself in the most difficult field, and on the most 
important of occasions ; and it has proved itself to be 
of that quality and character that it can be safely 
trusted to conduct prudently and successfully the af- 
fairs of a great country in time of peace as well as in 
time of war. 

His remarkable insight into the character and capaci- 
ty of others has been illustrated by his wise choice of 
subordinates to carry out his plans. It has been said 
that he owed his success to his able subordinates, and 
this idea has been encouraged by his own modesty and 
generosity towards them ; but, in truth, they were more 
indebted to him than he to them. It was his sagacity 
which recognized their merit, and, in more than one 
instance, called them from obscurity, and gave them 
the opportunity of distinguishing themselves. It was 
his discernment which selected each to take that com- 
mand, and to perform those deeds, for which he was 
best adapted. His most brilliant subordinates, Sher- 
man and Sheridan, were especially thus indebted to 
him. Sherman was looked upon as little better than 
a lunatic till Grant gave direction to his abilities, and 
Sheridan achieved no distinction till Grant, seeing his 
true capacity, made him his cavalry commander, and 



160 Life of General Grant. 

sent him to the Shenandoah to defeat Early, and to 
Five Forks to break through Lee's lines. Thomas, 
McPherson, and others, were in like manner indebted 
to Grant for promotion and opportunities ; and each of 
them was trusted and assigned to difficult duties, be- 
cause of his intuitive knowledge of their ability and 
fitness for the work demanded of them. So, also, his 
staff has always been composed of men admirably 
qualified for their respective duties, and who performed 
them with the same quiet energy which characterized 
their chief. This power to discern the character and 
ability of others, and to make a wise selection of 
agents, is one of the essential traits of a genius for 
command and for administration ; and it is one as im- 
portant for complete success in civil affairs as in mili- 
tary. Should General Grant be called to the higher 
position to which the people wish to promote him, the 
country has reason to feel assured that his wise choice 
of counsellors and executive officers will secure the 
most honest, faithful, and successful administration that 
has been vouchsafed to the country for many years. 

His tenacity of purpose is another trait which has 
been illustrated through his whole career, and which 
is so prominent in the foregoing narrative of each of 
his campaigns, that it is needless to do more than 
allude to it here. Happily, in Grant persistency is 
united with patriotism, honesty of purpose, and sound 
judgment, which give it direction and exalt its char- 
acter. 

Allied to this is his firmness, which, being entirely 
free from conceit, never degenerates into obstinacy, 
although Mrs. Grant says " Mr. Grant is a very obsti- 



Firmness and Independence. 161 

nate man." His firmness is generally for a good pur- 
pose, and subordinate to reason. He does not adhere 
to an opinion simply because he has expressed it, but 
only when he is convinced it is right ; and when he 
has adopted a course which he is satisfied is the true 
one, he is not to be turned aside by opposition or flat- 
tery. Self-reliant and independent, by nature and by 
long training, he is not easily moved by the various 
advice of various men, but he calmly listens, weighs, 
and acts upon his own conclusions. He can say " no " 
to unworthy office-seekers, and keep political schemers 
at a distance, as he did the cotton speculators, who 
sought to bribe him when he commanded on the Mis- 
sissippi. 

But with all his firmness and independence, he has 
always manifested the strictest obedience to law, and 
submission to legitimate authority. This was illus- 
trated throughout his career during the war, and it has 
been especially shown in his efforts to carry out the 
provisions of the reconstruction acts, against the ad- 
verse influence of Andrew Johnson, the sneers and 
opposition of northern Democrats, and the schemes of 
perverse rebels. Again, in his respect for the tenure 
of office act, he resisted the machinations of the Presi- 
dent and his advisers to disregard the law, and involve 
him in a violation of it. His obedience to law has al- 
ways been based upon respect for the source of law, — 
the will of the people. He conducted the war in ac- 
cordance with the declared policy of the loyal people, 
and in his protest against the removal of Stanton and 
Sheridan, he boldly told Mr. Johnson, "It is more than 
the loyal people of this country (I mean those who 

ii 



1 62 Life of General Grant. 

supported the government during the great rebellion) 
will quietly submit to, to see the very men, of all others, 
whom they have expressed confidence in, removed ; "' 
and again, he reminded him, "This is a republic* zvhere 
the will of the -people is the law of the land. I beg 
that their voice may be heard" Thus, by his acts and 
by his language, he has put himself upon record, and 
established his reputation as a true democrat, and a 
thorough republican, whom the people can safely trust. 

Such traits of character, possessed in a remarkable 
degree by General Grant, admirably qualify him, not 
only for the high position, and the important command 
and trusts to which he has been called, but for the still 
higher functions for which the loyal people have every- 
where designated him. But besides these, he possesses 
other traits becoming that high position, if not so im- 
portant to it, which commend themselves to the admi- 
ration of the people, and to their love. 

He has always manifested a noble generosity to his 
subordinates, — a generosity which has won their firm- 
est friendship, and the genuine respect of his soldiers. 
No one more heartily rejoiced in the successes of his 
brother officers than he ; no one more warmly com- 
mended them for their gallantry and good service ; no 
one more earnestly supported them in the hour of 
danger and trial. No petty jealousy ever disturbed 
his relations with any officer in the army ; and if there 
were some whose capacity he doubted, or whose con- 
duct he censured, it was never because of any mean 
prejudice, ungenerous rivalry, or narrow ill will. 
Never acting from impulse, his judgment of others was 
always founded on reason, while a kindly nature has 



His Reticence. 163 

made his favorable judgments all the more friendly 
and his unfavorable opinions less harsh. 

Much has been said about General Grant's reticence, 
and it might be supposed from some accounts that he 
is mute as a statue. But, on the contrary, though he is 
not loquacious or demonstrative, and never seeks op- 
portunities to express his opinions, he is often very 
agreeable in conversation, and is straightforward, hon- 
est, and simple in his language as he is in all his con- 
duct. But upon all matters connected with his official 
action he is discreetly reticent. During the war he 
never announced his plans or talked about them, ex- 
cept with those whom he could absolutely trust, and 
his staff officers, following his instruction and example, 
were equally silent. 

When he took the field with the army of the Poto- 
mac, he was frequently beset by members of Congress, 
correspondents of the press, and visitors favored with 
special passes to the front, who endeavored to elicit 
from him something of his views and purposes. But 
they were always unsuccessful, and were obliged to be 
content with the most general remarks, from which 
they drew inferences to suit themselves, or were put 
off with quiet monosyllables, which sometimes alarmed 
their fears and sometimes wounded their conceit. Im- 
pertinent querists and officious advisers often retired 
from his headquarters utterly baffled in their purposes, 
and uncertain whether to be angry or not. A charac- 
teristic anecdote of such an interview is told. 

A visitor to the army, during the brief quiet which 
followed the battle of Spottsylvania, called at the gen- 
eral's headquarters, and found him talking with one 



164 Life of General Grant. 

of his staff, and smoking as usual. The stranger, 
who had studied strategy to his own satisfaction, en- 
couraged by the absence of all ceremony at head- 
quarters, ventured to address the commander, and 
inquired, — 

"General, if you flank Lee, and get between him 
and Richmond, will you not uncover Washington, and 
leave it a prey to the enemy ? " 

"I reckon so," replied the general, indifferently, dis- 
charging a cloud of smoke, perhaps to conceal a quiet 
smile. 

The visitor, encouraged, again asked, " Do you not 
think Lee can detach a sufficient force from his army 
to reenforce Beauregard, and overwhelm Butler?' 

"Not a doubt of it," replied Grant, promptly. 

The stranger, finding that his views were so readily 
accepted by Grant, asked again, "Is there not danger, 
general, that Johnston may come up from Carolina 
and reenforce Lee, so that with overwhelming num- 
bers he can swing round and cut off your communica- 
tions and seize your supplies ? " 

"Very likely," coolly replied the general, knocking 
the ashes from his cigar. The stranger, alarmed at 
all these dangers admitted by the general, and amazed 
at his indifference and stolidity, hurried away to startle 
the timid with a vivid account of the critical position 
of affairs. 

Such was Grant's reticence while conducting the 
war, and the country saw abundant reason for ap- 
plauding it. After the war, when he established his 
headquarters at Washington, where he was continually 
surrounded by impertinent inquirers and political 



No Speech-Maker. 165 

schemers, that reticence was none the less needed, and 
was as discreetly practised. If they endeavored to entrap- 
him, they were completely foiled by quiet monosylla- 
bles or a blunt change of the topic. If schemers talked 
politics to elicit his views, he could "talk horse," as a 
subject with which he declared himself more familiar ; 
and it is related that when President Johnson under- 
took to find out what he thought of the rumored inten- 
tion of the Democrats to nominate him for the presi- 
dency in order to flank the Republicans, he replied, 
"I think — this is the poorest cigar I ever smoked." 

As for making speeches, he is utterly averse to doing 
so ; and on many occasions when the people, aroused 
to enthusiasm by his presence, have called him out, he 
has in the briefest possible manner thanked them, and 
excused himself, or called upon some friend to respond 
for him. There is no danger of his making speeches, 
under any circumstances, which would compromise 
himself; but in view of the speech-making of Mr. 
Johnson, Grant's silence is a virtue more precious than 
gold. 

By his discreet reticence, General Grant has avoided 
many embarrassments which a more loquacious and 
demonstrative man might have experienced in the at- 
mosphere of Washington ; and, in avoiding embarrass- 
ments, he has also saved the country from the excite- 
ment and alarm which the ever-changing rumors of 
his sayings and opinions might produce. But if he 
knows when to be silent, he knows also when and 
where, and to whom, he can talk frankly and without 
reserve. And his views and opinions thus expressed 
harmonize fully, and always, with the conduct and acts 



i^d Life of General Grant. 

which have proved his devotion to the country. He 
is, in words as well as deeds, a firm, unhesitating sup- 
porter of Congress in its reconstruction policy, and a 
strenuous opponent of executive usurpation and dis- 
regard of law. 

Though retiring and. undemonstrative in manner, he 
is by no means repulsive or inaccessible. On the con- 
trary, he is easily approached, and is courteous and 
pleasant. But the citadel of his thoughts and purposes 
he does not yield either to the bold assaults of brazen 
inquisitors, or to the wary approaches of cunning 
diplomatists. 

Of all the distinguished officers in the army, Grant 
has always been the most unostentatious and unpre- 
tending in appearance and manner. He is careless, 
but not slovenly in his dress, and is so devoid of any 
air of importance, that but for the four stars upon his 
shoulder-straps, no one would suppose he was more 
than a hard-worked quartermaster's subordinate. In 
the winter of 1865, shortly before his final and trium- 
phant campaign, while in Washington, he visited the 
Capitol, and was received with becoming respect by the 
members of Congress. But so quiet and modest was 
his deportment, that when he retired from the Senate 
chamber, a Democratic senator declared that " a gross 
mistake had been made in appointing Grant lieutenant 
general, for, in his opinion, there was not a second 
lieutenant of the home guard of his state who did not 
f cut a bier^er swell ' than this man who had just left 
their presence ! " Such is his modesty and simplicity 
of demeanor on all occasions, except when at the very 
front he gives orders on the field of battle, ; and then 



His Republican Simplicity. 167 

his energy and determination assert themselves above 
his modesty and usual quiet. 

During the war there was no parade about his head- 
quarters, which was no more pretending in appearance 
or arrangement than a colonel's, while his "headquar- 
ters train " was often the smallest in the army. In the 
winter of 1864-5 he lived in a small log-house on the 
banks of the James, sleeping on a common camp cot, 
and eating with his staff at a table furnished with such 
simple food as " roast beef, pork and beans, c hard tack,' 
and coffee." No body-guard ever accompanied him 
simply for display, and he never made a show of good- 
looking, well-dressed, and formal orderlies about his 
headquarters. 

The same simplicity he continues in his position as 
general of the army, at Washington. While not wholly 
negligent of the proprieties of life and of his office, 
he discards all useless display, and seems to deprecate 
all unnecessary formalities. No punctilious etiquette 
is necessary in order to reach him ; and no omission 
of customary form would call down his wrath on the 
head of any careless or ignorant offender, though 
some brigadier generals have in that way mani- 
fested their importance. In truth, his whole style 
and bearing afford an example of republican sim- 
plicity remarkable in a successful military commander, 
but not inconsistent with true dignity, nor unbecoming 
in the high office he now holds, or the higher office 
which awaits him. 

But General Grant is human. Though possessing 
a genius for command in war, and sterling qualities 
which fit him for high executive duties, and inspire the 



1 68 Life of General Grant. 

confidence of the people, he is not an immaculate hero. 
He has two weaknesses : he loves to smoke a good 
cigar, and he loves to drive good horses. There are 
some persons to whom even these weaknesses, in a 
man like Grant, commend themselves more than rigid 
virtues ; and there are few who, while they appreciate 
his high qualities and well-balanced character, will like 
him any the less for such tokens of a genial humanity. 

He is an inveterate smoker. He smokes on almost 
all occasions when there is not an absolute impropriety 
in the indulgence. And sometimes the force of habit 
has been so strong that it was necessary to remind 
him of the propriety of laying aside his cigar ; as once, 
when he visited the Capitol, and was about to enter the 
Senate chamber as the most distinguished guest of the 
Senate. So on more than one occasion the guard over 
ammunition wagons has been obliged to repeat to him 
the orders, "No smoking allowed here, sir!" Like a 
gentleman and a soldier he always good-naturedly 
complied with such suggestions, whether there is 
danger of a social explosion or an explosion of gun- 
powder. 

Smoking, with Grant, acts as a sedative rather than 
as a stimulant. During the war, in the most trying 
times of anxiety, while awaiting the result of move- 
ments vital to success, and in the most exciting mo- 
ments of battle, he smoked incessantly, and, to all out- 
ward appearances, as calmly as if his mind were not 
burdened with the heavy responsibilities and duties of 
his position and the time. He smoked while laying 
his plans and consulting his officers in his tent, and 
while, on the battle-field, he watched the eventful con- 



Smoking and Driving. 169 

test and gave his orders for skilful manoeuvres or for 
the decisive charge. 

With smoking he sometimes combined the Yankee 
habit of "whittling" when deep in thought or anx- 
iously awaiting results ; and in the Wilderness is a tree 
which he industriously hacked with his penknife while 
the great battle raged, as if smoking alone were not 
enough to keep the outward man quiet while his mind 
was occupied with the great events around him, and 
the great purposes within. So, in front of Vicksburg 
he smoked and whittled while watching the mounting 
of some guns in an important position, utterly regard- 
less of the bullets of the enemy's sharp-shooters which 
whistled about him. 

As for his love for driving good horses, it is what 
might be expected of one whose earliest trait was a 
love for, and command over, a horse. That trait was 
developed so early in his boyhood, that it must have 
been born in him, and is not the result of education or 
association. He knows a good horse, and knows how 
to drive one ; and he has too much humanity to abuse 
the animal he loves. He is said to be one of the best 
riders in the army, as might be expected from his early 
habit of riding, though his physique does not render 
him the most showy. In these times of peace, he pre- 
fers to ride in his carriage and drive. If once or 
twice he has driven a little faster than the snail-pace 
gait which municipal laws allow, he was simply up 
with the times ; and when some vigilant policeman, 
prompted by fun or malice, complained of him for vio- 
lating an ordinance against fast-driving, with his usual 
deference for law, he modestly acknowledged his error, 
and promptly paid his fine. 



170 Life of General Grant. 

It has been alleged that he has a more serious weak- 
ness, which would be less pardonable in the eyes of 
the people. At various times during the war, malig- 
nant enemies charged that he was grossly intemperate 
in his habits ; and since he became, by his acts, iden- 
tified with the party which seeks to reap the just fruits 
of victory over a wicked rebellion, Copperhead presses 
have asserted, or meanly insinuated, the same charge. 
No allusion would be made here to such accusations 
but for the gross injustice which has been done him, in 
thus seeking to create a prejudice against him in the 
minds of a large number of people. It is sufficient to 
say, that those who know him besj:, who have been 
most intimately associated with him during the war 
and since, pronounce such charges utterly false ; and 
that gentlemen, earnest in the cause of temperance, 
have satisfied themselves that there is no foundation 
for the assertions and insinuations derogatory to his 
character in this respect, but that he is a man whose 
temperance cannot justly be called in question. Such 
charges originated in personal or political enmity, and 
have been encouraged and circulated through total 
misapprehension of Grant's temperament and manner. 
They are the mean and malicious inventions of those 
who, during the war, hated him for his victories ; those 
who have always sympathized with the rebels whom 
he conquered, or those who have supported the policy 
of the man who publicly disgraced the country when 
he became Vice-President. Narrow prejudice and ig- 
norance, which are ever ready to misapprehend, have 
given credit and circulation to the libel ; but it is none 
the less a libel, unsupported by any evidence worthy of 
belief. 



His Appearance. 



171 



The photographer and engraver have made Grant's 
features familiar to the public as first among the heroes 
of the war. Those features indicate the modest and 
reticent character of the man, as well as that persis- 
tency and firmness which are among his most promi- 
nent traits. Quiet and retiring in his appearance, 
there is yet an air of reserved power in his look and 
manner which his career has abundantly proved that 
he possesses. He is of medium height, rather under 
than over the average standard, and has a very slight 
stoop of the shoulders. With all his retiring and mod- 
est expression, and absence of pretension of every sort, 
there is in his manner a quiet dignity, and a courteous 
but unceremonious bearing, becoming his position. He 
has, too, a pleasant smile ; and at times a keen glance 
in his gray eyes tells how closely he observes. He 
can give a cordial greeting to a guest; but his very 
look seems to read the motives of men, and inform 
him when to close his heart and his thoughts against 
sycophants and selfish schemers. While honest merit 
will meet with a quiet welcome, place-hunters and cor- 
ruptionists will find little encouragement in his face or 
in his words. 

General Grant has not infrequently been compared 
with him who holds the first place in the reverence of 
the American people. Though it is not proposed here 
to trace the resemblance between the two, — an attempt 
which would be distasteful to no one more than to our 
modest general, — it may with truth be said, that, more 
than any other one man the " saviour of his country " 
on the battle-fields of the recent unparalleled rebellion, 
Grant deserves to have a stronger hold upon his coun- 



172 Life of General Grant. 

trymen than any man since Washington. Contending 
for principles no less noble, and in a cause as just, he 
achieved victory on a grander scale ; and, possessing 
many of the traits of the illustrious " Father of his 
country," he may well receive, at the hands of a peo- 
ple saved from anarchy and ruin, the highest rewards 
they can bestow, and be called to preside over a Union 
dedicated to Liberty, Equality, and Justice. 

As by his victories he has proved himself tf first in 
war," so by his patriotism, ability, fidelity to principle, 
moderation and firmness in civil life, he may yet be 
hailed as f first in peace," and still be, as he now is, 
"first in the hearts of his countrymen." 



R fiV23£ 








PROPOSE TO FiqHTITOUT ON THIS LINE IF IT TAKES ML SUMMER:/ 







& 



SJ 



\ 



wf/ m 



%# Ws> 





AGENTS WANTED 

In every county ', city and town in the United States, 

to sell our 

LIFE OF GENERAL GRANT, 

Authentic, Popular, Cheap. 

A book wanted by the -public everywhere, and 
offering to Agents the greatest inducements to take 
the sale of it. 

Price, paper covers, 50 cts.; in cloth, gilt, 75 cts. 
Send for Circulars. 

S. WALKER & COMPANY, 

3 Tremont Row, Boston. 



S. W. & Co. also publish, in parts, HISTORY 
OF THE SOUTHERN REBELLION, 

Illustrated with Fine Steel Engravings. 

HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, 

Illustrated with Fine Steel Engravings. 









*. 









. ° 






5°^ 









^ 







o 



^^ * 



<k v & * " ° , ^ 



V 






°^ 



? 



7 o 






+ - ^ 









,H« 



O . i 






o 



a\ 



A 



;/; 









r O V 









* V 









o 



^ -3,0 



*> 



e / ■> 



'• V /^ 






r " * 







* 



* 7 \ x 






< v s • 










c 







o 














/. 







<k V ° ~ ° „ ^ 






'^ 












'} 



JPV 









» / 



,*■ 



- °mlW: ^ 









X) o 'A * A o 



0° 



v* 






I / 9 



* * O, *> 









H 0° 












^ji^ 



v *: r. °* 






^> 




j$ • 



^ 









^ 






'\ 



<\ 



«<T *V5^ 












°A 







<> 






vP 







. 






V 


o 


^ 




' £^\w 







3 * 






: 






;'-, 



*° ... 



^O 



4* 



,0 V 



V 



ST AUGUSTINE 

FLA- <^ 




32084 



^. 











1 


1 * Yj* 




Z ^ 


<V 




V ^- 


<\ ' 


0* •" 

C 







< > _ s * 






n v 






